Altered cortical excitability in subjectively electrosensitive patients: results of a pilot study.
Landgrebe M, Hauser S, Langguth B, Frick U, Hajak G, Eichhammer P. · 2007
View Original AbstractPeople reporting electromagnetic sensitivity show measurable brain activity differences compared to controls, suggesting genuine neurological basis for their symptoms.
Plain English Summary
German researchers used brain stimulation techniques to measure cortical excitability in 23 people who reported electromagnetic sensitivity, comparing them to 49 healthy controls. They found that electromagnetically sensitive individuals showed measurably different brain activity patterns, specifically reduced intracortical facilitation (a type of brain cell communication). This suggests that people reporting electromagnetic sensitivity may have genuine neurological differences that could explain their symptoms.
Why This Matters
This pilot study provides important neurobiological evidence that electromagnetic sensitivity isn't simply psychological. The researchers found measurable differences in brain function between people who report electromagnetic sensitivity and controls, specifically in how brain cells communicate with each other. What makes this research particularly significant is that it moves beyond the typical provocation studies that try to trigger symptoms in real-time, instead looking at baseline neurological differences. The finding of altered cortical excitability patterns aligns with similar research on other chronic multisymptom illnesses, suggesting electromagnetic sensitivity may share common neurological pathways with conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome and multiple chemical sensitivity. While this doesn't prove that EMF exposure directly causes these brain changes, it does validate that people reporting electromagnetic sensitivity have genuine, measurable neurological differences that could account for their symptoms.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
The aim of this study is to investigate Altered cortical excitability in subjectively electrosensitive patients: results of a pilot study
To elucidate a potential role of dysfunctional cortical regulations in mediating hypersensitivity to...
Electrosensitive patients showed reduced intracortical facilitation as compared to both control grou...
This pilot study gives additional evidence that altered central nervous system function may account for symptom manifestation in subjectively electrosensitive patients as has been postulated for several chronic multisymptom illnesses sharing a similar clustering of symptoms.
Show BibTeX
@article{m_2007_altered_cortical_excitability_in_2335,
author = {Landgrebe M and Hauser S and Langguth B and Frick U and Hajak G and Eichhammer P.},
title = {Altered cortical excitability in subjectively electrosensitive patients: results of a pilot study.},
year = {2007},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17324677/},
}