Magnetic resonance imaging reveals that brain atrophy is more severe in older California sea lions with domoic acid toxicosis

In 1998, domoic acid (DA) toxicosis was first documented in marine mammals, when more than 400 California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) were determined to have been exposed to DA through contaminated prey that was linked to a bloom of toxin-producing diatoms. Over the last fifteen years, these blooms have increased in frequency and distribution, and DA toxicosis has become a more complex disease. Evidence with laboratory animals show that...