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Effects of prenatal exposure to a 50-Hz magnetic field on one-trial passive avoidance learning in 1-day-old chicks.

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Sun H, Che Y, Liu X, Zhou D, Miao Y, Ma Y. · 2010

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Prenatal exposure to a 50-Hz magnetic field suggests a potential disruption of memory formation, evident only in the more stressed, isolated chicks.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers investigated memory impairment in newly hatched chicks following in ovo exposure to a 50-Hz magnetic field of 2 mT for 60 minutes per day on embryonic days 12 through 18. Memory retention was tested at 10, 30, and 120 minutes after exposure to a bitter-tasting bead.

Why This Matters

The study used isolated and paired chicks to test the effect of stress during training. Isolation represented the more stressed condition, and the memory effect was only evident in those more stressed, isolated chicks. The magnetic field exposure took place inside the egg on embryonic days 12 through 18, before the chicks hatched. The results suggest a potential disruption of memory formation, not a proven causal link.

Exposure Details

Magnetic Field
2 mT
Source/Device
50-Hz
Exposure Duration
60 min/day on embryonic days 12–18

Exposure Context

This study used 2 mT for magnetic fields:

Building Biology guidelines are practitioner-based limits from real-world assessments. BioInitiative Report recommendations are based on peer-reviewed science. Check Your Exposure to compare your own measurements.

Where This Falls on the Concern Scale

Study Exposure Level in ContextStudy Exposure Level in ContextThis study: 2 mTExtreme Concern - 5 mGFCC Limit - 2,000 mGEffects observed in the Extreme Concern range (Building Biology)This level is 10 times the FCC limit
A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 50 Hz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 50 HzCell phones~1 GHzWiFi2.4 GHz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

Study Details

We investigated memory impairment in newly hatched chicks following in ovo exposure to a 50‐Hz magnetic field (MF) of 2 mT (60 min/day) on embryonic days 12–18.

Isolated and paired chicks were used to test the effect of stress during training, and memory retent...

Results showed that memory was intact at 10 min in both isolated and paired chicks with or without M...

Cite This Study
Sun H, Che Y, Liu X, Zhou D, Miao Y, Ma Y. (2010). Effects of prenatal exposure to a 50-Hz magnetic field on one-trial passive avoidance learning in 1-day-old chicks. Bioelectromagnetics. 31(2):150-155, 2010.
Show BibTeX
@article{h_2010_effects_of_prenatal_exposure_304,
  author = {Sun H and Che Y and Liu X and Zhou D and Miao Y and Ma Y.},
  title = {Effects of prenatal exposure to a 50-Hz magnetic field on one-trial passive avoidance learning in 1-day-old chicks.},
  year = {2010},
  doi = {10.1002/bem.20540},
  url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/bem.20540},
}
DOI: 10.1002/bem.20540

Cited By (14 papers)

View all 14 citing papers on Semantic Scholar

Quick Questions About This Study

The study used a 50-Hz magnetic field of 2 mT applied for 60 minutes per day on embryonic days 12 through 18.
Memory retention was tested at 10, 30, and 120 minutes after the chicks were exposed to a bitter-tasting bead.
The results suggest a potential disruption of memory formation following in ovo exposure to the magnetic field, with the effect only evident in the more stressed, isolated chicks.