American diplomats’ brains shrunk following an alleged sonic attack on the US Embassy in Cuba, according to a new study.

State-of-the-art imaging of staff members who suffered headaches, nausea and memory loss after hearing mysterious noises reveals “significant” structural changes, scientists have revealed.

Blame for the spate of unusual symptoms that afflicted diplomats at the Havana embassy between late 2016 and May 2018 has ranged from a deliberate attack using a mysterious sonic weapon to an abundance of crickets.

More than 20 American staff members complained of hearing penetrating noises in their homes or nearby hotels.

The real cause of the symptoms has not yet been established, although State Department officials have previously referred to a “sonic attack” and “directional phenomena”.

The illnesses prompted the US to more than halve its numbers at the mission in 2017.

Relations further soured after two Cuban diplomats were expelled from Washington and Donald Trump said he held the Caribbean nation responsible.

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There has been an intense and extensive media campaign that involved a group of U.S. officials accredited as diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Havana with strange acoustic attacks. Their origin and actors could not be identified, and then Washington decided to reduce the staff of its representation in Cuba. This had a big impact on consular, political and tourist relations between the two countries.

Remember the stories over the past year or so about mysterious attacks at U.S. embassies harming diplomatic staff and their families? William J. Broad's story in the New York Times today reports that doctors and scientists are now coming to the conclusion that microwave weapon strikes capable of causing “sonic delusions” and brain damage are to blame.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will join a government investigation into 'sonic attacks' that have left more than 25 U.S. personnel with mysterious ailments. The bizarre incidents have baffled scientists and government investigators since they were made public last year. The U.S. has described the bizarre sound incidents as "attacks," and “has not specifically accused Cuba, but holds them responsible for not keeping U.S. diplomats safe.”

The bizarre “sonic attacks” against diplomats began in Cuba, but have now spread to other countries with over 200 illnesses reported. It all started in the fall of 2016 when diplomats at the United States Embassy in Cuba reported some hearing loss and mild brain damage after hearing unusual and puzzling sounds.

Over the last two years, academic researchers have identified various methods that they can transmit hidden commands that are undetectable by the human ear to Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google’s Assistant.

In the most specific finding to date about physical damage, AP reports that doctors treating the U.S. Embassy victims of mysterious, invisible attacks in Cuba have discovered brain abnormalities as they search for clues to explain the hearing, vision, balance and memory damage.

The White House does not believe the Cuban government is behind the mysterious sonic attacks against U.S. personnel but plans to pull American staff out of Havana as the number of cases climbs, according to multiple U.S. sources familiar with the investigation.

Late last year, reports began surfacing that US diplomatic personnel in Cuba were beginning to experience strange and inexplicable symptoms including dizziness, nausea, memory lapses, difficulty hearing and loss of balance. Initial reports attributed the symptoms to a “acoustic attack,” but neglected to provide any salient details about the specific nature of the attacks, or – more importantly – who might have carried them out. The Cuban government quickly denied any knowledge of the attacks.

American officials have revealed more information about a mysterious sonic device that is believed to have caused numerous diplomats to suffer hearing loss and other serious ailments. Last month, the Associated Press reported that the first hearing-loss symptoms were reported by personnel at the US embassy in Havana in the fall of 2016. The news agency said that at least five embassy personnel reported suffering from sudden and unexplained loss of hearing. The symptoms were so serious that caused some American diplomats “to cancel their tours early and return to the United States”, according to the Associated Press.