Mobile phone ‘talk-mode’ signal delays EEG-determined sleep onset.
Hung CS, Anderson C, Horne JA, McEvoy P. · 2007
View Original AbstractMobile phone talk mode delayed sleep onset in this study, even at exposure levels considered safe by current regulations.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed sleep-deprived people to mobile phone signals for 30 minutes, then monitored their brain waves during sleep. Active phone transmissions during "talk mode" significantly delayed deep sleep onset compared to other phone modes, suggesting cell phone use can disrupt natural sleep patterns.
Why This Matters
This controlled study adds important evidence to our understanding of how mobile phone radiation affects sleep quality. The researchers used realistic exposure levels (SAR of 0.133 W/kg) that fall well within current safety limits, yet still found measurable effects on brain activity during sleep onset. What makes this research particularly significant is that it isolated the specific 'talk mode' transmission pattern as the culprit, suggesting that the pulsed nature of active phone calls creates more biological disruption than passive listening or standby modes. The science demonstrates that even brief exposures can alter brain wave patterns in ways that delay restorative sleep. What this means for you is that keeping your phone in active use near your head before bedtime may be interfering with your sleep quality in ways you might not even notice.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.133 , 0.015 , 0.001 W/kg
- Source/Device
- GSM900 mobile phone
- Exposure Duration
- 30 min
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
We used a GSM900 mobile phone controlled by a base-station simulator and a test SIM card to simulate these three specific modes, transmitted at 12.5% (23 dBm) of maximum power.
At weekly intervals, 10 healthy young adults, sleep restricted to 6 h, were randomly and single-blin...
There was no condition effect for subjective sleepiness. Post-exposure, sleep latency after talk mod...
Show BibTeX
@article{cs_2007_mobile_phone_talkmode_signal_260,
author = {Hung CS and Anderson C and Horne JA and McEvoy P. },
title = {Mobile phone ‘talk-mode’ signal delays EEG-determined sleep onset.},
year = {2007},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304394007006003},
}