Disruption of a putative working memory task and selective expression of brain c-fos following microwave-induced hyperthermia
Mickley GA, Cobb BL, Mason PA, Farrell S · 1994
View Original AbstractMicrowave radiation disrupted memory in rats at SAR levels of 1-10 W/kg, comparable to intensive cell phone use.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rats to microwave radiation at different power levels and tested their ability to recognize familiar objects versus new ones. Rats exposed to higher levels (above 5 W/kg) showed memory problems and couldn't distinguish between familiar and new objects, while unexposed rats could. The study also found that microwave exposure activated stress response genes in key brain regions including the hypothalamus and amygdala.
Why This Matters
This 1994 study provides important evidence that microwave radiation can disrupt working memory through thermal effects on the brain. What makes this research particularly significant is that it identified specific brain regions affected by microwave exposure, including the hypothalamus and amygdala - areas critical for memory formation and emotional processing. The exposure levels that caused memory disruption (1-10 W/kg SAR) are within the range of what modern devices can produce during heavy use. While this study focused on thermal effects from high-intensity exposure, it demonstrates that microwave radiation can indeed alter brain function and memory performance. The researchers' use of c-fos protein expression as a biomarker also revealed that even when behavioral changes weren't obvious, the brain was still responding to the radiation exposure at a cellular level.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.1 , > 5 , 1, 5, 8.5, 9.3, 10 W/kg
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
To study the disruption of a putative working memory task and selective expression of brain c-fos following microwave-induced hyperthermia
To discern the effects of hyperthermia on working memory, we recorded the ability of rats to discrim...
Rats exposed to > 5 W/kg exhibited hyperthermia when compared to nonirradiated controls. Normothermi...
These data suggest that performance on a putative working memory task may be disrupted by a sufficiently intense microwave-induced hyperthermia. The pattern of expression of the early proto-oncogene c-fos may suggest candidate brain nuclei that mediate the behavioral changes we observed.
Show BibTeX
@article{ga_1994_disruption_of_a_putative_1202,
author = {Mickley GA and Cobb BL and Mason PA and Farrell S},
title = {Disruption of a putative working memory task and selective expression of brain c-fos following microwave-induced hyperthermia},
year = {1994},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8047568/},
}