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bolic activity. What we found were clear hot spots of brain activity in the area of the pituitary and amygdala, which would account for his explosive behavior at the game.'' |
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Next he removed from one of the folders a long strip of EEG scrawlings. "Although Matty has no history of seizures nor any signs while he'd been here, the electrical profile shows eleptiform spike waves deep in the temporal lobes, bilaterally, characteristic of epileptic seizures. What all this means is that there is remarkable electrical activity in those areas associated with violent behavior and the secretion of male steroids and other hormones." Mitch took off his glasses. "However, there are no signs of tumors or seizures, and except for the enlarged amygdala, no other unusual brain physiology." |
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"So, what's causing it?" Calvin asked. |
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Dr. Givens nodded to Dr. Hagan. "Well, that was our question, because the results are random and unusual," she said. "Twelve years of Dr. Tojian's records on Matty show no early signs of neurological disordersseizures, headaches, lack of attentiveness, trouble sleeping, dizzy spells. That's when we began to suspect something else was going on." |
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She stopped for a moment and looked to Dr. Givens. "Two days ago we did a lumbar puncturea spinal tap. We extracted some cerebral spinal fluid and sent it off for an elaborate analysis." She opened the folder on her lap to a packet of pale green computer printouts covered with a long list of figures. "They were quite thorough," she said as she fanned through the sheets. She stopped at the last page. "There appears to be a strange substance in Matty's CSF." |
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"Strange substance?" Calvin asked. |
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"Well, there's an unlabeled chemical in high concentration in the neurological fluid that has the signature of a hormone that is chemically similar to human gonadotropins but isn't something naturally produced by the body. And yet it appears to have caused the hypertrophy of the amygdala, as well as a surge of gonadotropins that accounts for his sudden outbursts." |
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Terry's voice was unsteady. "What the hell are you saying?" |
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Mitch made a gesture to the others. "Terry, Dr. Hagan is saying that some kind of synthetic compound has gotten into Matty's sys- |
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