A new study funded by the Superfund Research Program (SRP) shows cadmium exposure can impair new neurons from forming and maturing in the hippocampus region of the brain. Led by Zhengui Xia, Ph.D., the researchers at the University of Washington (UW) SRP Center also found that cadmium can lead to the death of stem cells that produce these neurons. In people, learning and memory formation depends on the production of new neurons in this region of the brain.