TNF and Cognitive impairment: Our findings demonstrate that MSG exposure significantly alters the hippocampal inflammatory profile, as marked by elevated proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α) and decreased anti-inflammatory IL-10 (Fig. 8), that was consistent with its established neurotoxic effects in rodent models55,56.This cytokine dysregulation suggests a mechanistic link between MSG-induced neuroinflammation and cognitive deficits, and emphasize the critical role of neuroinflammatory cascades in mediating excitotoxicity-induced neurodegeneration101,102.