Alterations of human electroencephalographic activity caused by multiple extremely low frequency magnetic field exposures

Abstract

In the past, many studies have claimed that extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic field (MF) exposures could alter the human electroencephalographic (EEG) activity. This study aims at extending our ELF pilot study to investigate whether MF exposures at ELF in series from 50, 16.66, 13, 10, 8.33 to 4 Hz could alter relative power within the corresponding EEG bands. 33 human subjects were tested under a double-blind and counter-balanced conditions. The multiple repeated three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) mixed design (within and between-subject) analysis was employed followed by post-hoc t-tests and Bonferroni alpha-correction. The results from this study have shown that narrow alpha1 (7.5-9.5 Hz) and alpha2 (9-11 Hz) bands, associated with 8.33 and 10 Hz MF exposures, were significantly (p < 0.0005) lower than control over the temporal and parietal regions within the 10-16 min of first MF exposure session and the MF exposures were significantly higher than control of the second session MF exposure (60-65 min from the commencement of testing). Also, it was found that the beta1 (12-14 Hz) band exhibited a significant increase from before to after 13-Hz first MF exposure session at frontal region. The final outcome of our result has shown that it is possible to alter the human EEG activity of alpha and beta bands when exposed to MF at frequencies corresponding to those same bands, depending on the order and period of MF conditions. This type of EEG synchronisation of driving alpha and beta EEG by alpha and beta sinusoidal MF stimulation, demonstrated in this study, could possibly be applied as therapeutic treatment(s) of particular neurophysiological abnormalities such as sleep and psychiatric disorders.

Oscillatory Activities in Neurological Disorders of Elderly: Biomarkers to Target for Neuromodulation

“…This can induce measurable changes in electrical brain activity and influence neuronal functions such as motor control, sensory perception, and cognitive activities. In healthy humans, Bell et al (1994) compared the effects of 1.5 and 10 Hz MF, while Cvetkovic and Cosic (2009) analyzed the effects of several ELF-MF frequencies (4, 8.33, 10, 13, 16.6 and 50 Hz) on the power of the corresponding EEG bands. In both cases, spectral analysis demonstrated that specific EEG frequencies can be influenced by stimulation at matching MF frequencies.…”

The efficiency of pulsed electromagnetic field in refractory migraine headaches: a randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel group

“…25,33,34 Many of the studies from 1985 to 2005, gathered in a review article, illustrated the effect of the use of large spread spectrum of PEMF doses on decreasing headache activity. 17 Although most of these research studies had no control or comparison group, or had very brief follow-up periods and uncompleted reports of dosimeter.…”

“…11,37 On the other hand, an electromagnetic field with a frequency of 10 Hz reduced the alpha band of the EEG. 25,38,39 There are some controversies regarding the effect of PEMF due to the intensity and frequency of exposure on EEG. 24,38,39 Then the electrophysiological rationale of effect of electromagnetic field on migraine may be supported.…”

“…21,22 They also increase the rate of synthesis (turnover) of dopamine and serotonin, eventually reducing the alpha band of EEG. [23][24][25] It seems that there is a correlation between the etiology of migraines and the effects of an electromagnetic field on the human brain. 9 Nevertheless, there is no strong evidence to support efficiency of this treatment in migraine sufferers.…”

A human source for ELF magnetic perturbations

“…Subsequent studies indicated that exposure to low-frequency magnetic fields is able to alter basic neural function in rats (Lovely et al, 1993;Lyskov et al, 1996;Thomas et al, 1986;Welker et al, 1983;Zhadin et al, 1999), effects that have in part been explained in terms of changes in the glutamate receptor N-methyl-D-aspartate (Flohr, 2000;Frilot et al, 2014). A variety of other reports (Cvetkovic and Cosic, 2009;Vorobyov et al, 1997Vorobyov et al, , 1998Vorobyov et al, , 2010 have linked weak ELF magnetic field exposure to changes in the EEG, to electrical activity in the brain (Marino et al, 2004) and to neuroendocrine receptors (Janac et al, 2009). One critically important addition to this body of research (Zhadin et al, 1998) established that the conductivity of glutamic acid in solution increases sharply at remarkably small magnetic field levels (~40 nT) when these fields are applied at ion cyclotron resonance field combinations, a result independently replicated in three other laboratories (Alberto et al, 2008;Comisso et al, 2006;Pazur, 2004).…”