Changes of dendritic spine density and morphology in the superficial layers of the medial entorhinal cortex induced by extremely low-frequency magnetic field exposure.
Xiong J, He C, Li C, Tan G, Li J, Yu Z, Hu Z, Chen F. · 2013
View Original AbstractExposure to a 0.5 mT 50 Hz extremely low-frequency magnetic field reduced dendritic spine density in rat medial entorhinal cortex neurons after 14 and 28 days.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rats to a 0.5 mT 50 Hz extremely low-frequency magnetic field for 14 and 28 days and then used Golgi staining to examine dendritic spines in the superficial layers of the medial entorhinal cortex. Exposure reduced spine density in stellate neurons and the basal dendrites of pyramidal neurons at both time points, largely due to loss of thin and branched spines. Reduced spine density in the apical dendrites of pyramidal neurons was only observed at 28 days, reflecting distinct vulnerability of spines in the apical and basal dendrites.
Why This Matters
The study focused on the medial entorhinal cortex, which the researchers described as part of a neural network closely related to learning and memory. Changes in the density of mushroom and stubby spines after exposure were cell-type specific. In stellate neurons, exposure slightly increased stubby spine density at 28 days and did not affect mushroom spine density at the same time. In the basal dendrites of pyramidal neurons, mushroom spine density decreased significantly only at the later time point, while stubby spine density was reduced at 14 days and partially restored at 28 days. The researchers suggested these findings may help explain exposure-induced impairment in cognitive functions, noting that changes in spine number and shape are involved in synaptic plasticity.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 0.5 mT
- Source/Device
- 50 Hz ELM
- Exposure Duration
- 14 and 28 days
Exposure Context
This study used 0.5 mT for magnetic fields:
- 25Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 5Kx above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 1 mG
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 Details
To investigate the changes of Dendritic Spine Density and Morphology in the Superficial Layers of the Medial Entorhinal Cortex Induced by Extremely Low-Frequency Magnetic Field Exposure.
In the present study, we investigated the effects of chronic exposure (14 and 28 days) to a 0.5 mT 5...
The results showed that ELM exposure induced a decrease in the spine density in the dendrites of ste...
Show BibTeX
@article{j_2013_changes_of_dendritic_spine_312,
author = {Xiong J and He C and Li C and Tan G and Li J and Yu Z and Hu Z and Chen F. },
title = {Changes of dendritic spine density and morphology in the superficial layers of the medial entorhinal cortex induced by extremely low-frequency magnetic field exposure.},
year = {2013},
url = {https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0083561},
}