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Impairment of long-term potentiation induction is essential for the disruption of spatial memory after microwave exposure

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Wang H, Peng R, Zhou H, Wang S, Gao Y, Wang L, Yong Z, Zuo H, Zhao L, Dong J, Xu X, Su Z · 2013

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Rats exposed to 10 or 50 mW/cm² microwave showed significant deficits in spatial learning and memory, while those at 5 mW/cm² showed no difference from the sham group.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers exposed 100 Wistar rats to a 2.856 GHz pulsed microwave field at average power densities of 0, 5, 10, and 50 mW/cm² for 6 minutes. Rats exposed to 10 or 50 mW/cm² showed significant deficits in spatial learning and memory at 6 hours, 1 day, and 3 days after exposure. At the 5 mW/cm² level, exposed rats showed no difference compared with the sham group. The study suggested that impairment of LTP induction and damages of hippocampal structure, especially changes of synapses, might contribute to cognitive impairment after microwave exposure.

Why This Matters

Spatial memory was assessed using the Morris Water Maze task. Long-term potentiation was evaluated by measuring population spike amplitudes in the medial perforant path to dentate gyrus pathway. Decreased population spike amplitudes were found after 10 and 50 mW/cm² microwave exposure. Varying degrees of degeneration of hippocampal neurons, decreased synaptic vesicles, and blurred synaptic clefts were observed in rats exposed to 10 and 50 mW/cm². Hippocampal structure was observed by light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy at 7 days after microwave exposure.

Exposure Details

Power Density
0, 5, 10, and 50 mW/cm²
Source/Device
2.856 GHz
Exposure Duration
6 min

Exposure Context

This study used 0, 5, 10, and 50 mW/cm² for radio frequency:

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: 0, 5, 10, and 50 mW/cm²Extreme Concern - 1,000 µW/m²FCC Limit - 10M µW/m²Effects observed in the Extreme Concern range (Building Biology)This level is 5 times the FCC limit
A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 2.86 GHz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 2.86 GHzPower lines50/60 Hz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

Study Details

To assess the impact of microwave exposure on learning and memory and to explore the underlying mechanisms.

100 Wistar rats were exposed to a 2.856 GHz pulsed microwave field at average power densities of 0 m...

Our results showed that the rats exposed in 10 mW/cm2 and 50 mW/cm2 microwave displayed significant ...

This study suggested that impairment of LTP induction and the damages of hippocampal structure, especially changes of synapses, might contribute to cognitive impairment after microwave exposure.

Cite This Study
Wang H, Peng R, Zhou H, Wang S, Gao Y, Wang L, Yong Z, Zuo H, Zhao L, Dong J, Xu X, Su Z (2013). Impairment of long-term potentiation induction is essential for the disruption of spatial memory after microwave exposure Int J Radiat Biol. 2013 Jul 24. doi.org/10.3109/09553002.2013.817701.
Show BibTeX
@article{h_2013_impairment_of_longterm_potentiation_197,
  author = {Wang H and Peng R and Zhou H and Wang S and Gao Y and Wang L and Yong Z and Zuo H and Zhao L and Dong J and Xu X and Su Z},
  title = {Impairment of long-term potentiation induction is essential for the disruption of spatial memory after microwave exposure},
  year = {2013},
  doi = {10.3109/09553002.2013.817701},
  url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/09553002.2013.817701},
}
DOI: 10.3109/09553002.2013.817701

Cited By (73 papers)

View all 73 citing papers on Semantic Scholar

Quick Questions About This Study

Rats were exposed to average power densities of 0, 5, 10, and 50 mW/cm² of a 2.856 GHz pulsed microwave field for 6 minutes.
Rats exposed to 10 or 50 mW/cm² showed significant deficits in spatial learning and memory, while those at 5 mW/cm² showed no difference from the sham group.
Varying degrees of degeneration of hippocampal neurons, decreased synaptic vesicles, and blurred synaptic clefts were observed in rats exposed to 10 and 50 mW/cm².
The study suggested that impairment of LTP induction and damages of hippocampal structure, especially changes of synapses, might contribute to cognitive impairment after microwave exposure.
Significant deficits in spatial learning and memory were observed at 6 hours, 1 day, and 3 days after exposure to 10 or 50 mW/cm².