Medical/biological study (experimental study)

Mobile phones modulate response patterns of human brain activity med./bio.

By: Eulitz C, Ullsperger P, Freude G, Elbert T

Published in: NeuroReport 1998; 9 (14): 3229-3232

Aim of study (acc. to author)

To determine empirically whether radiation generated by cellular phones might affect neural responses. The study investigated a different set of cognitive tasks for influences of pulsed high-frequency electromagnetic field on EEG.

Endpoint

effects on the neurological system: brain activity during an auditory discrimination task

Exposure

- PW pulsed wave
- mobile communications
- digital mobile phone
- GSM

Exposure	Parameters
Exposure 1: 916.2 MHz Modulation type: pulsed Exposure duration: see add. information	power: 2.8 W peak value

Exposure 1

Main characteristics

Frequency	916.2 MHz
Type	electromagnetic field
Exposure duration	see add. information

Modulation

Modulation type	pulsed
Pulse width	577 µs
Repetition frequency	217 Hz
Additional info	no acoustic signal transmission nor power management

Exposure setup

Exposure source	cellular phone
Setup	The mobile phone was mounted on the subject's head such that the base of the antenna was positioned over the left temporal region. The transmitter was operated from a separate room.
Additional info	Four blocks of 450 stimuli (with interstimulus intervals of 2 s) were presented according to a balanced plan under single-blind conditions. During two of the blocks EMF was emitted from the antenna.

Parameters

Measurand	Value	Type	Method	Mass	Remarks
power	2.8 W	peak value	-	-	-

Exposed system:

human
partial body: head

Methods Endpoint/measurement parameters/methodology

effects on the neurological system: EEG (during an auditory discrimination task (oddball paradigm); spectral power analysis; evoked potentials; induced brain activity)
EOG

Investigated system:

investigation on living organism

Investigated organ system:

brain/CNS

Time of investigation:

during exposure

Main outcome of study (acc. to author)

The study demonstrated that pulsed electromagnetic fields may alter distinct aspects of the brain electrical response to acoustic stimuli. The data demonstrate that the induced, but not the evoked, brain activity during exposure can be different from that not influenced by electromagnetic fields. The effect appeared when subjects processed task-relevant target stimuli but was not present for irrelevant standard/novel stimuli. When present, exposure modulated mainly the induced brain activity in the hemispheric directly exposed to the electromagnetic radiation and only in the high-frequency band.

Study character:

medical/biological study
experimental study
full/main study

Study funded by

not stated/no funding

Mohan M et al. (2016): Does chronic exposure to mobile phones affect cognition?
Vecchio F et al. (2012): Mobile phone emission increases inter-hemispheric functional coupling of electroencephalographic alpha rhythms in epileptic patients
Vecchio F et al. (2012): Mobile phone emission modulates event-related desynchronization of alpha rhythms and cognitive-motor performance in healthy humans
Leung S et al. (2011): Effects of 2G and 3G mobile phones on performance and electrophysiology in adolescents, young adults and older adults
Bak M et al. (2010): Effects of GSM signals during exposure to event related potentials (ERPs)
Lopez-Martin E et al. (2009): The action of pulse-modulated GSM radiation increases regional changes in brain activity and c-Fos expression in cortical and subcortical areas in a rat model of picrotoxin-induced seizure proneness
Nanou E et al. (2009): Influence of a 1,800 MHz electromagnetic field on the EEG energy
Ammari M et al. (2008): Exposure to GSM 900 MHz electromagnetic fields affects cerebral cytochrome c oxidase activity
Inomata-Terada S et al. (2007): Effects of high frequency electromagnetic field (EMF) emitted by mobile phones on the human motor cortex
Krause CM et al. (2007): Effects of pulsed and continuous wave 902 MHz mobile phone exposure on brain oscillatory activity during cognitive processing
Hinrichs H et al. (2006): High Frequency GSM-1800 Fields with Various Modulations and Field Strengths: No Short Term Effect on Human Awake EEG
Krause CM et al. (2006): Mobile phone effects on children's event-related oscillatory EEG during an auditory memory task
Ferreri F et al. (2006): Mobile phone emissions and human brain excitability
Yuasa K et al. (2006): Effects of thirty minutes mobile phone use on the human sensory cortex
Papageorgiou CC et al. (2006): Acute mobile phone effects on pre-attentive operation
Krause CM et al. (2000): Effects of electromagnetic fields emitted by cellular phones on the electroencephalogram during a visual working memory task
Petrides M (2000): Exposure to electromagnetic fields by using cellular telephones and its influence on the brain