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Mobile phone use facilitates memory in male, but not female, subjects.

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Smythe JW, Costall B. · 2003

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Mobile phone radiation measurably altered brain function in sex-specific ways, proving wireless signals affect neural activity at everyday exposure levels.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers tested whether mobile phone radiation affects memory by having university students memorize words arranged in shapes, then testing their recall immediately and one week later. They found that men exposed to active phones made fewer spatial memory errors (better performance), while women showed no significant changes. This suggests mobile phone radiation can alter brain function in sex-specific ways.

Why This Matters

This 2003 study reveals something crucial that the wireless industry rarely discusses: mobile phone radiation doesn't just potentially harm the brain, it can alter how it functions in measurably different ways. The finding that men's spatial memory improved while women remained unaffected demonstrates that EMF exposure creates biological changes that vary by sex, a pattern we see repeatedly in EMF research. What makes this particularly significant is that any measurable change in brain function, whether 'positive' or 'negative,' indicates that radiofrequency radiation is biologically active at levels we encounter daily. The reality is that if your phone can alter memory performance, it's affecting your brain's electrical activity in ways we don't fully understand. You don't have to accept that unknown neurological effects are safe simply because some appear beneficial in laboratory settings.

Exposure Information

Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.

Study Details

In the present study we report on the effects of mobile phone exposure on short- and long-term memory in male and female subjects.

Subjects were university undergraduate students, and consisted of right-handed, males (n = 33) and ...

The results show that males exposed to an active phone made fewer spatial errors than those exposed ...

These results further indicate that mobile phone exposure has functional consequences for human subjects, and these effects appear to be sex-dependent.

Cite This Study
Smythe JW, Costall B. (2003). Mobile phone use facilitates memory in male, but not female, subjects. Neuroreport 14(2):243-246, 2003.
Show BibTeX
@article{jw_2003_mobile_phone_use_facilitates_2605,
  author = {Smythe JW and Costall B.},
  title = {Mobile phone use facilitates memory in male, but not female, subjects.},
  year = {2003},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12598738/},
}
PubMed: 12598738

Cited By (79 papers)

View all 79 citing papers on Semantic Scholar

Quick Questions About This Study

Yes, cell phone radiation affects memory differently by sex. A 2003 study found that men exposed to active mobile phones made fewer spatial memory errors, showing improved performance, while women showed no significant memory changes from the same exposure.
Mobile phone radiation can improve spatial memory in men. University students exposed to active phones during word memorization tasks made fewer spatial errors when recalling information, suggesting the radiation enhanced certain aspects of memory function in male subjects.
Men and women respond differently to mobile phone EMF due to biological sex differences in brain structure and function. The 2003 Smythe and Costall study demonstrated that mobile phone exposure improved men's spatial memory while having no effect on women's performance.
Yes, mobile phone radiation has functional consequences for brain performance. Research shows exposure can alter cognitive function in sex-specific ways, with men experiencing improved spatial memory performance while women remain largely unaffected by the same radiation exposure.
Cell phone use during memory tasks can affect recall accuracy in men. When university students memorized words while exposed to active phones, males showed improved spatial recall both immediately and one week later, demonstrating lasting memory enhancement effects.