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Use of mobile and cordless phones and change in cognitive function: a prospective cohort analysis of Australian primary school children.

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Bhatt CR, Benke G, Smith CL, Redmayne M, Dimitriadis C, Dalecki A, Macleod S, Sim MR, Croft RJ, Wolfe R, Kaufman J, Abramson MJ. · 2017

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Children's mobile phone use showed mixed cognitive effects in this 3-year study, with some brain functions improving while others declined.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Australian researchers followed 412 primary school children for up to 3 years to see if using mobile phones and cordless phones affected their thinking abilities. They found mixed results - increased mobile phone use was linked to some changes in cognitive performance, including faster response times on some tasks but slower response times on others. The researchers concluded there was limited evidence that phone use significantly impacts children's cognitive function.

Why This Matters

This longitudinal study provides important real-world data on how phone use affects developing brains, following the same children over time rather than just taking a snapshot. What's particularly notable is that 76% of these primary school children were already using cordless phones regularly, with mobile phone use jumping from 31% to 43% during the study period. The mixed cognitive effects - some improvements, some impairments - suggest the relationship between EMF exposure and brain function is complex and may depend on which cognitive processes we're measuring. The reality is that children today are growing up immersed in radiofrequency radiation from multiple devices, and this study shows we're still learning how that exposure shapes their developing minds. While the authors found 'limited evidence' of effects, the fact that any statistically significant changes occurred in a relatively short timeframe should give parents pause about unrestricted device use in young children.

Exposure Information

Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.

Study Details

We evaluated possible longitudinal associations between the use of MPs and CPs in a cohort of primary school children and effects on their cognitive function.

Data on children's socio-demographics, use of MPs and CPs, and cognitive function were collected at ...

Of 412 children, a larger proportion of them used a CP (76% at baseline and follow-up), compared to ...

Our study shows that a larger proportion of children used CPs compared to MPs. We found limited evidence that change in the use of MPs or CPs in primary school children was associated with change in cognitive function.

Cite This Study
Bhatt CR, Benke G, Smith CL, Redmayne M, Dimitriadis C, Dalecki A, Macleod S, Sim MR, Croft RJ, Wolfe R, Kaufman J, Abramson MJ. (2017). Use of mobile and cordless phones and change in cognitive function: a prospective cohort analysis of Australian primary school children. Environ Health. 16(1):62, 2017.
Show BibTeX
@article{cr_2017_use_of_mobile_and_1905,
  author = {Bhatt CR and Benke G and Smith CL and Redmayne M and Dimitriadis C and Dalecki A and Macleod S and Sim MR and Croft RJ and Wolfe R and Kaufman J and Abramson MJ.},
  title = {Use of mobile and cordless phones and change in cognitive function: a prospective cohort analysis of Australian primary school children.},
  year = {2017},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28629417/},
}
PubMed: 28629417

Cited By (26 papers)

Quick Questions About This Study

Australian research following 412 primary school children found cordless phones had minimal impact on cognitive function compared to mobile phones. While 76% of children used cordless phones versus 43% using mobile phones, only mobile phone use showed measurable changes in thinking tasks and response times.
A 3-year study of Australian primary school children found mixed effects from mobile phone use. Increased mobile phone usage was linked to faster response times on inhibition tasks but slower response times on interference tasks, showing phone use affects different cognitive abilities differently.
Research tracking 412 Australian primary school children found 76% used cordless phones compared to only 31-43% using mobile phones. Despite cordless phones being more commonly used by children, they showed fewer associations with changes in cognitive performance than mobile phones.
A prospective study following Australian primary school children for up to 3 years found limited evidence that mobile or cordless phone use significantly impacts cognitive function. Out of 26 cognitive measures tested, only 4 showed significant associations with phone usage changes.
Australian researchers followed 412 primary school children for up to 3 years to measure how mobile and cordless phone use affected their cognitive abilities. This prospective study design allowed scientists to track actual changes in thinking skills over time rather than just comparing different groups.