Acute effects of the electromagnetic waves emitted by mobile phones on attention in emergency physicians.
Altuntas G, Sadoglu D, Ardic S, Yilmaz H, Imamoglu M, Turedi S. · 2017
View Original AbstractCell phone radiation temporarily improved doctors' selective attention in this small study, suggesting acute EMF effects on cognition are complex.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed 30 emergency physicians to cell phone radiation (900-1800 MHz) for 15 minutes and tested their attention and concentration using standardized cognitive tests. Surprisingly, doctors exposed to the radiation actually performed better on selective attention tasks compared to those holding phones that were turned off. The study suggests short-term cell phone radiation exposure may temporarily enhance certain cognitive functions rather than impair them.
Why This Matters
This study presents an intriguing finding that challenges common assumptions about EMF's immediate cognitive effects. The researchers found that 15 minutes of cell phone radiation exposure at typical frequencies (900-1800 MHz) actually improved selective attention performance in emergency physicians. However, we should interpret these results cautiously. The study involved only 30 participants and measured acute effects over a very short timeframe. What this means for you is that the immediate cognitive impacts of cell phone use may be more complex than simple impairment. The reality is that short-term exposure might produce different effects than chronic, long-term exposure patterns that most of us experience daily. While this research doesn't negate concerns about prolonged EMF exposure, it does highlight how much we still don't understand about the brain's response to electromagnetic fields.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. The study examined exposure from: 900-1800MHz Duration: 15 min
Study Details
The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effects of the electromagnetic waves (EMW) emitted by mobile phones on attention in emergency physicians.
This single-center, prospective, randomized, double-blinded clinical study was performed among emerg...
Difference between initial and final d2 test in total performance (TN-E, p=0.319), in total number o...
According to our study findings, the EMW emitted by mobile phones has no deleterious effect on the attention and concentration levels of emergency physicians, and even has a positive impact on selective attention levels.
Show BibTeX
@article{g_2017_acute_effects_of_the_1830,
author = {Altuntas G and Sadoglu D and Ardic S and Yilmaz H and Imamoglu M and Turedi S.},
title = {Acute effects of the electromagnetic waves emitted by mobile phones on attention in emergency physicians.},
year = {2017},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29157789/},
}