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Behavior and memory evaluation of Wistar rats exposed to 1·8 GHz radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation

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Júnior LC, Guimarães ED, Musso CM, Stabler CT, Garcia RM, Mourão-Júnior CA, Andreazzi AE. · 2014

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Cell phone radiation triggered stress behaviors in rats after just three days of exposure, even without memory or anxiety changes.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Brazilian researchers exposed rats to cell phone radiation (1.8 GHz) for three days using simulated phone calls and then tested their behavior and memory. While the rats showed no memory problems or anxiety, they did exhibit stress-related behaviors when exposed to the radiation. This suggests that even short-term cell phone radiation exposure may trigger stress responses in the brain, even when other cognitive functions appear normal.

Why This Matters

This study adds to growing evidence that radiofrequency radiation affects the nervous system in ways we're still discovering. What's particularly noteworthy is that stress behaviors emerged even without detectable memory or anxiety changes, suggesting EMF exposure may trigger biological stress responses before we see obvious cognitive impacts. The 1.8 GHz frequency used matches GSM cell phone networks, making these findings directly relevant to everyday phone use. The research reinforces that our brains respond to EMF exposure even when we don't consciously notice effects. While this was a short-term animal study, it supports the broader pattern of research showing that RF radiation isn't biologically inert as wireless industry claims suggest.

Exposure Details

Electric Field
2 and 0.1 V/m
Source/Device
1·8 GHz GSM Cell Phone
Exposure Duration
3 days (25 s phone calls every 2 min)

Study Details

To verify potential effects of mobile phone radiation on the central nervous system (CNS) in an animal model.

Male Wistar rats (60 days old) were exposed to RF-EMR from a Global System for Mobile (GSM) cell pho...

Our results showed that exposed animals did not present anxiety patterns or working memory impairmen...

Given the results of the present study, we speculate that RF-EMR does not promote CNS impairment, but suggest that it may lead to stressful behavioral patterns.

Cite This Study
Júnior LC, Guimarães ED, Musso CM, Stabler CT, Garcia RM, Mourão-Júnior CA, Andreazzi AE. (2014). Behavior and memory evaluation of Wistar rats exposed to 1·8 GHz radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation Neurol Res 2014; 36 (9): 800-803.
Show BibTeX
@article{lc_2014_behavior_and_memory_evaluation_113,
  author = {Júnior LC and Guimarães ED and Musso CM and Stabler CT and Garcia RM and Mourão-Júnior CA and Andreazzi AE.},
  title = {Behavior and memory evaluation of Wistar rats exposed to 1·8 GHz radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation},
  year = {2014},
  doi = {10.1179/1743132813Y.0000000276},
  url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/1743132813Y.0000000276},
}

Quick Questions About This Study

Brazilian researchers exposed rats to cell phone radiation (1.8 GHz) for three days using simulated phone calls and then tested their behavior and memory. While the rats showed no memory problems or anxiety, they did exhibit stress-related behaviors when exposed to the radiation. This suggests that even short-term cell phone radiation exposure may trigger stress responses in the brain, even when other cognitive functions appear normal.