Can inhalants cause permanent brain damage?

The neurotoxic effects of prolonged inhalant abuse include neurological syndromes that reflect damage to parts of the brain involved in controlling cognition, movement, vision, and hearing. Cognitive abnormalities can range from mild impairment to severe dementia. Inhalants also are highly toxic to other organs. read more

Many inhalants are thought to dissolve the protective myelin sheath that surrounds neurons - brain cells - resulting in cell death (see brain diagram). B. CEREBRAL CORTEX Cellular death here causes permanent personality changes, memory impairment, hallucinations and learning disabilities. read more

Brain and eyes: Different inhalants cause different types of brain damage. Some chemicals are thought to dissolve the protective coating around brain cells which causes those cells to die. If cells die in the cerebral cortex (the large outer layer) of the brain, personality changes, loss of memory, hallucinations and learning disabilities result. read more