Does the Brain Detect 3G Mobile Phone Radiation Peaks? An Explorative In-Depth Analysis of an Experimental Study

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate whether third generation mobile phone radiation peaks result in event related potentials. Thirty-one healthy females participated. In this single-blind, cross-over design, a 15 minute mobile phone exposure was compared to two 15 minute sham phone conditions, one preceding and one following the exposure condition. Each participant was measured on two separate days, where mobile phone placement was varied between the ear and heart. EEG activity and radiofrequency radiation were recorded jointly. Epochs of 1200ms, starting 200ms before and lasting until 1000ms after the onset of a radiation peak, were extracted from the exposure condition. Control epochs were randomly selected from the two sham phone conditions. The main a-priori hypothesis to be tested concerned an increase of the area in the 240-500ms post-stimulus interval, in the exposure session with ear-placement. Using multilevel regression analyses the placement*exposure interaction effect was significant for the frontal and central cortical regions, indicating that only in the mobile phone exposure with ear-placement an enlarged cortical reactivity was found. Post-hoc analyses based on visual inspection of the ERPs showed a second significantly increased area between 500-1000ms post-stimulus for almost every EEG location measured. It was concluded that, when a dialing mobile phone is placed on the ear, its radiation, although unconsciously, is electrically detected by the brain. The question of whether or not this cortical reactivity results in a negative health outcome has to be answered in future longitudinal experiments.

Acute effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic field emitted by mobile phone on brain function

“…A few studies have begun to examine EMF‐related effects on ERD [Vecchio et al, ,] and ERPs [Trunk et al, , ]. In line with an increase in fronto‐temporal blood flow reported by Volkow et al [] in their PET study, a positive waveform over frontal and central electrode sites was seen time‐locked to peaks in MP radiation (ERP 240–500 ms) [Roggeveen et al, ]. This would suggest increased cortical activity induced by the presence of an active MP, which is also in line with a reduction [Ghosn et al, ], rather than increase [Roggeveen et al, ] in alpha power, and an increase in fast frequency bands (beta, gamma).…”

Effects of evening exposure to electromagnetic fields emitted by 3G mobile phones on health and night sleep EEG architecture

“…However, reported data have been inconsistent. Findings by Roggeveen, Os, and Lousberg () indicated increased activity in alpha bands due to 3G exposure. In summary, some studies suggest that RF‐EMFs induce changes, particularly in the alpha/spindle frequency range of the EEG.…”

Modulation of resting‐state brain functional connectivity by exposure to acute fourth‐generation long‐term evolution electromagnetic field: An fMRI study

“…With neuroimaging and neuropsychology tools, the effect of EMF on the human brain can be reflected as signals of electrical activity [Hamblin et al, ; Croft et al, ; Lustenberger et al, ; Roggeveen et al, , b], cortical excitability [Tombini et al, ], cerebral blood flow [Aalto et al, ], brain glucose metabolism [Volkow et al, ], and hemodynamic responses [Volkow et al, ; Curcio et al, ]. Previous studies reported that GSM signals modulated alpha band power in resting‐state electroencephalogram (EEG) [Croft et al, ] or some event‐related potential (ERP) components during cognitive tasks [Hamblin et al, ], whereas other studies did not detect any GSM exposure‐induced changes in brain activity [Curcio et al, ].…”

“…Previous studies reported that GSM signals modulated alpha band power in resting‐state electroencephalogram (EEG) [Croft et al, ] or some event‐related potential (ERP) components during cognitive tasks [Hamblin et al, ], whereas other studies did not detect any GSM exposure‐induced changes in brain activity [Curcio et al, ]. Although some studies showed no significant effects of 3G signals on any neurophysiological measurements [Zhang et al, ], recent EEG studies reported significant EEG alterations associated with 3G mobile phone radiation [Roggeveen et al, , b]. The inconsistency could partly be attributed to different exposure frequencies, modulation modes, and exposure durations [Zhang et al, ].…”