The acute effects of exposure to the electromagnetic field emitted by mobile phones on human attention

Abstract

The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of acute mobile phone exposure on a range of tasks which tapped capacity and processing speed within the attentional system. Thirty-eight healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to either an experimental group which was exposed to a connected mobile phone or a control group in which the mobile phone was switched off. Subjects remained blind to mobile phone status throughout duration of study. The experimental group were exposed to an electromagnetic field emitted by a 900 MHz mobile phone for 30 min. Cognitive performance was assessed at three points (prior to mobile phone exposure, at 15 and 30 min post-exposure) using six cognitive neuropsychological tests (digit span and spatial span forwards and backwards, serial subtraction and verbal fluency). Significant differences between the two groups were evident after 5 min on two tests of attentional capacity (digit span forwards and spatial span backwards) and one of processing speed (serial subtraction). In all three instances, performance was facilitated following mobile phone exposure. No deficits were evident. These findings are discussed in terms of possible functional and neuroanatomical bases.

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“…A large number of behavioral and electrophysiological studies have been conducted but with inconsistent results (see Kwon and Hämäläinen, 2011, for a review). Earlier behavioral studies, for example, reported faster response speed in attention or working memory tasks (Preece et al, 1999;Koivisto et al, 2000a, b;Edelstyn and Oldershaw, 2002), but later more stringent studies (e.g., with corrections for multiple comparisons) failed to replicate such findings. Results of electroencephalography studies have also been contradictory particularly in the a band: some studies reported increased a activity (Croft et al, 2002(Croft et al, , 2008Curcio et al, 2005;Regel et al, 2007), while others found no such effects (Röschke and Mann, 1997;Hietanen et al, 2000;Perentos et al, 2007;Kleinlogel et al, 2008).…”

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