Electroencephalographic Responses to Ionizing Radiation

Abstract

Electroencephalographic recordings made from chronically implanted cortical electrodes indicate that ionizing radiation has an immediate effect upon brain wave patterns. X-rays delivered at the rate of 0.2 roentgen per second produce an arousal effect resembling that which occurs as a result of stimulation through peripheral receptor systems.

Flashes of light-radiation therapy to the brain

“…Bilaterally blinded animals showed the same results as those with intact vision, again showing that retinal function was not essential to the perception of radiation. The authors speculated that EEG changes and associated behavioral responses were the result of stimuli of a peripheral receptor, not direct neural stimulation [6].…”

Facilitated habituation: Strychnine dose-response effects on neural and behavioral habituation

“…The extent to which habituation and anesthetization sometimes result in similar effects upon ERearly might be suggestive of roughly analogous processes operating during habituation and anesthetization. However, the well-known suppression of less intense stimuli during habituation [9,13,48] suggests that care should be exercised in comparisons between anesthetization and habituation. If habituation can be expressed as either ER decrements, as reported previously, or as ER increments as reported in the present study, a question arises concerning the CNS differences underlying the two processes.…”

EFFECTS OF RADIATION ON THE BEHAVIOR OF ANIMALS: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE. Appendix to 1972 Progress Report.

“…Gamma radiation was found to influence the degree of turning, the activity, the phototactic responses and the lunar rhythms of Drosophila melanogaster (Picton, 1964). Rats engaged in some activity stopped what they were doing and oriented the first time they were exposed to a brief period of irradiation (Garcia, Buchwald, Hull, and Koelling, 1964 ;. F.A.…”

“…feel that radiation-induced aversion is a form of discrimination learning since the requirements for this establishment are a distinctive fluid paired with radiation exposure and an alternative fluid which has not been paired with radiation treatment. According to Garcia, Buchwald, Hull, and Koelling (1964), maximum avoidance reactions are obtained when the abdomen is irradiated. Since the avoidance reaction toward any stimulus associated with exposure is not immediate and since this reaction is a function of the total dose received by the animal, it is postulated that the avoidance effect is a result of the reaction of internal receptors to toxic products produced by the radiation.…”

“…The condition of the organism at exposure, the reproductive activity of the tissues which are irradiated, and the effects of drugs and anoxia should all be considered (Furchtgott, 1956). Garcia, Buchwald, Hull, and Koelling (1964) propose a dual receptor model for the detection of radiation by animals. Sleepy animals can be aroused by exposures of less than l.r.…”