Neurotoxicity of glyphosate: Focus on molecular mechanisms probably associated with alterations in cognition and behavior

Abstract

In recent decades, glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) have been extensively used in agriculture all over the world. Initially, they were considered safe, but rising evidence suggests that these molecules reach the central nervous system producing metabolic, functional, and permanent alterations that impact cognition and behavior. This theoretical and non-systematic review involved searching, integrating, and analyzing preclinical evidence regarding the effects of acute, sub-chronic, and chronic exposure to glyphosate and GBH on cognition, behavior, neural activity, and development in adult and juvenile rodents following perinatal exposition. In addition, this review gathers the mechanisms underlying the neurotoxicity of glyphosate mediating cognitive and behavioral alterations. Furthermore, clinical evidence of the effects of exposition to GBH on human health and its possible link with several neurological disorders was revised.