Acute exposure to a 50 Hz magnetic field impairs consolidation of spatial memory in rats.
Jadidi M, Firoozabadi SM, Rashidy-Pour A, Sajadi AA, Sadeghi H, Taherian AA. · 2007
View Original AbstractTwenty minutes of magnetic field exposure can disrupt memory formation in the brain, suggesting EMF may interfere with learning processes.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rats to 50 Hz magnetic fields (household electricity frequency) immediately after learning a maze. An 8 milliTesla field for 20 minutes disrupted memory formation when applied right after learning, suggesting magnetic fields can interfere with how brains consolidate new memories.
Why This Matters
This research demonstrates a concerning mechanism by which EMF exposure might affect cognitive function. The science shows that magnetic fields can disrupt memory consolidation - the critical process by which short-term memories become permanently stored. What makes this particularly relevant is the timing sensitivity: exposure immediately after learning caused problems, but exposure before testing did not. This suggests EMF interferes with active memory processing rather than simply impairing performance. The 8 mT exposure level used here is higher than typical household exposures (which range from 0.1 to 1 mT near appliances), but the finding that even brief exposure can disrupt fundamental brain processes raises important questions about chronic, lower-level exposures we encounter daily.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 2, 8 mG
- Source/Device
- 50 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 20 min
Exposure Context
This study used 2, 8 mG for magnetic fields:
- 100Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 20Kx 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
This study was planned to evaluate the effect of an exposure to magnetic fields on consolidation and retrieval of hippocampus dependent spatial memory using a water maze.
In Experiments 1 and 2, rats were trained in a hidden version (spatial) of water maze task with two ...
Exposure to a 50 Hz 8 mT, but not 2 mT magnetic fields for 20 min immediately after training impaire...
These findings indicate that acute exposure to a 50 Hz magnetic field at 8 mT for short time can impair consolidation of spatial memory.
Show BibTeX
@article{m_2007_acute_exposure_to_a_656,
author = {Jadidi M and Firoozabadi SM and Rashidy-Pour A and Sajadi AA and Sadeghi H and Taherian AA.},
title = {Acute exposure to a 50 Hz magnetic field impairs consolidation of spatial memory in rats.},
year = {2007},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17768075/},
}