The spectral power coherence of the EEG under different EMF conditions

Hountala, Chrissanthi; Maganioti, Argiro E.; Papageorgiou, Charalabos; Nanou, Eleni D.; Kyprianou, Miltiades; Tsiafakis, Vassilis G.; Rabavilas, Andreas D.; Capsalis, Christos N.

doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2008.06.035

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The effect of RF exposure (reduction of amplitudes of the P300 for males and the reverse patterns for females) are in accordance with several studies of our team, regarding gender-related differences in the EEG under 900 MHz and 1800 MHz EMF exposure, similar to that of mobile phones, although the present cognitive task differed from the previous one [24,41,46]. Also, Smythe and Costall [53] have reported sex-dependent effects of EMF exposure on the human memory during a memory task.…”

Section: Wi-fi Signal Onsupporting

confidence: 92%

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Effects of Wi-Fi Signals on the P300 Component of Event-Related Potentials During an Auditory Hayling Task

Papageorgiou

Hountala²,

Maganioti³

et al. 2011

J. Integr. Neurosci.

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The P300 component of event-related potentials (ERPs) is believed to index attention and working memory (WM) operation of the brain. The present study focused on the possible gender-related effects of Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) electromagnetic fields (EMF) on these processes. Fifteen male and fifteen female subjects, matched for age and education level, were investigated while performing a modified version of the Hayling Sentence Completion test adjusted to induce WM. ERPs were recorded at 30 scalp electrodes, both without and with the exposure to a Wi-Fi signal. P300 amplitude values at 18 electrodes were found to be significantly lower in the response inhibition condition than in the response initiation and baseline conditions. Independent of the above effect, within the response inhibition condition there was also a significant gender X radiation interaction effect manifested at 15 leads by decreased P300 amplitudes of males in comparison to female subjects only at the presence of EMF. In conclusion, the present findings suggest that Wi-Fi exposure may exert gender-related alterations on neural activity associated with the amount of attentional resources engaged during a linguistic test adjusted to induce WM.

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Section: Wi-fi Signal Onsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…A series of studies by our team provided evidence that it is necessary to examine the possible impact of EMF on brain activity separately for males and females, in order to unveil the possible confounding effects of gender and its interaction with EMF [24,41,46].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Wi-Fi Signals on the P300 Component of Event-Related Potentials During an Auditory Hayling Task

Papageorgiou

Hountala²,

Maganioti³

et al. 2011

J. Integr. Neurosci.

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“…If the EMF exposure takes place while the subject is cognitively processing auditory or visual information, still further complexity is unavoidable. Use of idiosyncratic experimental designs (Freude et al, 1988(Freude et al, , 2000Krause et al, 2000aKrause et al, , 2000bKrause et al, , 2004Krause et al, , 2006Krause et al, , 2007 or novel dependent variables (Hountala et al, 2008;Papageorgiou et al, 2004) are also complicating factors.…”

Section: Analysis Of Reportsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In other words, the novelty aspect should have been limited to the question studied, and should not have included the methodology or experimental design. However, many investigators devised novel methods (Bachmann et al, 2005;Hinrikus et al, 2007), or studied the effects of GSM EMFs on phenomena that themselves were not established (Hountala et al, 2008;Papageorgiou et al, 2004). Such unorthodoxy was almost guaranteed to generate uncertainty, regardless of the results of the experiment.…”

Section: Analysis Of Reportsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Three significant differences in 30 tests were found (family-wise error rate p ¼ 0.19), which did not support the conclusion of the investigators that the EMFs had affected cognitive processing. Hountala et al (2008) measured spectral power coherence from 15 electrodes during an auditory memory task and concluded that males had more coherence than females in the absence of EMFs, 900-MHz EMFs eradicated the differences, and 1,800-MHz EMFs reversed it (females more coherent). The investigators had previously reported that males had more spectral power, and that during exposure to 900 MHz the power decreased in males and increased in females (Papageorgiou et al, 2004).…”

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confidence: 99%

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The Effects of Mobile-Phone Electromagnetic Fields on Brain Electrical Activity: A Critical Analysis of the Literature

Marino

Carrubba

2009

Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine

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We analyzed the reports in which human brain electrical activity was compared between the presence and absence of radio-frequency and low-frequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs) from mobile phones, or between pre- and post-exposure to the EMFs. Of 55 reports, 37 claimed and 18 denied an EMF-induced effect on either the baseline electro encephalogram (EEG), or on cognitive processing of visual or auditory stimuli as reflected in changes in event-related potentials. The positive reports did not adequately consider the family-wise error rate, the presence of spike artifacts in the EEG, or the confounding role of the two different EMFs. The negative reports contained neither positive controls nor power analyses. Almost all reports were based on the incorrect assumption that the brain was in equilibrium with its surroundings. Overall, the doubt regarding the existence of reproducible mobile-phone EMFs on brain activity created by the reports appeared to legitimate the knowledge claims of the mobile-phone industry. However, it funded, partly or wholly, at least 87% of the reports. From an analysis of their cognitive framework, the common use of disclaimers, the absence of information concerning conflicts of interest, and the industry's donations to the principal EMF journal, we inferred that the doubt was manufactured by the industry. The crucial scientific question of the pathophysiology of mobile-phone EMFs as reflected in measurements of brain electrical activity remains unanswered, and essentially unaddressed.

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Effects of mobile phone electromagnetic fields: Critical evaluation of behavioral and neurophysiological studies

Kwon

Hämäläinen

2010

Bioelectromagnetics

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For the last two decades, a large number of studies have investigated the effects of mobile phone radiation on the human brain and cognition using behavioral or neurophysiological measurements. This review evaluated previous findings with respect to study design and data analysis. Provocation studies found no evidence of subjective symptoms attributed to mobile phone radiation, suggesting psychological reasons for inducing such symptoms in hypersensitive people. Behavioral studies previously reported improved cognitive performance under exposure, but it was likely to have occurred by chance due to multiple comparisons. Recent behavioral studies and replication studies with more conservative statistics found no significant effects compared with original studies. Neurophysiological studies found no significant effects on cochlear and brainstem auditory processing, but only inconsistent results on spontaneous and evoked brain electrical activity. The inconsistent findings suggest possible false positives due to multiple comparisons and thus replication is needed. Other approaches such as brain hemodynamic response measurements are promising but the findings are few and not yet conclusive. Rigorous study design and data analysis considering multiple comparisons and effect size are required to reduce controversy in this important field of research.

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The spectral power coherence of the EEG under different EMF conditions

Cited by 13 publications

References 25 publications

Effects of Wi-Fi Signals on the P300 Component of Event-Related Potentials During an Auditory Hayling Task

Effects of Wi-Fi Signals on the P300 Component of Event-Related Potentials During an Auditory Hayling Task

The Effects of Mobile-Phone Electromagnetic Fields on Brain Electrical Activity: A Critical Analysis of the Literature

Effects of mobile phone electromagnetic fields: Critical evaluation of behavioral and neurophysiological studies

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