Mobile phone emission modulates inter-hemispheric functional coupling of EEG alpha rhythms in elderly compared to young subjects.
Vecchio F, Babiloni C, Ferreri F, Buffo P, Cibelli G, Curcio G, Dijkman SV, Melgari JM, Giambattistelli F, Rossini PM. · 2010
View Original AbstractAging brains show significantly heightened electromagnetic sensitivity to cell phone radiation compared to younger brains during typical usage periods.
Plain English Summary
Italian researchers measured brain wave patterns in elderly and young adults while exposed to cell phone radiation for 45 minutes. They found that older adults showed significantly increased synchronization between the left and right brain hemispheres in the alpha frequency range (8-12 Hz) during phone exposure, while younger subjects showed minimal changes. This suggests that aging brains may be more vulnerable to electromagnetic field effects from mobile devices.
Why This Matters
This study reveals a concerning vulnerability that affects millions of older adults who increasingly rely on mobile technology. The research demonstrates that aging brains respond differently to cell phone radiation, showing heightened inter-hemispheric synchronization that doesn't occur in younger users. What makes this particularly significant is that it challenges the one-size-fits-all approach to EMF safety standards, which are primarily based on young, healthy adults. The 45-minute exposure duration used in this study is well within typical daily phone usage patterns for many people. The reality is that our current safety guidelines may not adequately protect vulnerable populations, including the elderly, whose brains appear to be more reactive to electromagnetic fields. This adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that age-related changes in brain physiology may increase susceptibility to EMF effects, highlighting the need for more targeted research and potentially revised exposure recommendations for older adults.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. The study examined exposure from: Delta (about 2-4 Hz), theta (about 4-6 Hz), alpha 1 (about 6-8 Hz), alpha 2 (about 8-10 Hz), and alpha 3 (about 10-12 Hz) Duration: 45 Minutes
Study Details
Here we tested the hypothesis that this effect can vary on physiological aging as a sign of changes in the functional organization of cortical neural synchronization.
Eyes-closed resting EEG data were recorded in 16 healthy elderly subjects and 5 young subjects in th...
Compared with the young subjects, the elderly subjects showed a statistically significant (p<0.001) ...
These results suggest that GSM-EMFs of a mobile phone affect inter-hemispheric synchronization of the dominant (alpha) EEG rhythms as a function of the physiological aging
Show BibTeX
@article{f_2010_mobile_phone_emission_modulates_2651,
author = {Vecchio F and Babiloni C and Ferreri F and Buffo P and Cibelli G and Curcio G and Dijkman SV and Melgari JM and Giambattistelli F and Rossini PM.},
title = {Mobile phone emission modulates inter-hemispheric functional coupling of EEG alpha rhythms in elderly compared to young subjects.},
year = {2010},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20005167/},
}