Sensory transduction of weak electromagnetic fields: role of glutamate neurotransmission mediated by NMDA receptors.
Frilot C 2nd, Carrubba S, Marino AA. · 2014
View Original AbstractThe brain can detect weak electromagnetic fields through specific neural pathways, suggesting biological sensitivity exists below current safety thresholds.
Plain English Summary
Researchers studied how the brain detects weak electromagnetic fields by examining brain waves in awake versus anesthetized rats. They found that rats could detect EMF signals when awake, but this ability was blocked by ketamine (an anesthetic that interferes with brain communication pathways) but not by xylazine (a different type of anesthetic). This suggests the brain has a previously unrecognized ability to sense electromagnetic fields through specific neural pathways.
Why This Matters
This research provides compelling evidence that the nervous system has evolved mechanisms to detect electromagnetic fields - something that challenges the long-held assumption that biological systems are essentially 'blind' to EMF below thermal levels. The fact that this detection depends on NMDA receptors, which are crucial for learning and memory, suggests EMF exposure could potentially influence cognitive processes through pathways we're only beginning to understand. What makes this particularly relevant is that these researchers demonstrated EMF detection at 'subliminal' levels - meaning fields too weak to cause obvious immediate effects but still detectable by the brain. This adds scientific weight to reports from people who claim sensitivity to EMF from everyday sources like wireless devices, and suggests our regulatory focus on thermal effects may be missing important biological interactions.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
Subliminal electromagnetic fields (EMFs) triggered nonlinear evoked potentials in awake but not anesthetized animals, and increased glucose metabolism in the hindbrain. Field detection occurred somewhere in the head and possibly was an unrecognized function of sensory neurons in facial skin, which synapse in the trigeminal nucleus and project to the thalamus via glutamate-dependent pathways. If so, anesthetic agents that antagonize glutamate neurotransmission would be expected to degrade EMF-evoked potentials (EEPs) to a greater extent than agents having different pharmacological effects.
We tested the hypothesis using ketamine which blocks N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors (NMDARs),...
EEPs were observed in awake rats but not while they were under anesthesia produced using a cocktail ...
Show BibTeX
@article{2nd_2014_sensory_transduction_of_weak_1557,
author = {Frilot C 2nd and Carrubba S and Marino AA.},
title = {Sensory transduction of weak electromagnetic fields: role of glutamate neurotransmission mediated by NMDA receptors.},
year = {2014},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306452213009494},
}