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Brain & Nervous System

Influence of Magnetic Field on Brain Activity During Administration of Caffeine

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El Gohary MI, Salama AA, El Saeid AA, El Sayed TM, Kotb HS. · 2013

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In rats, combining caffeine with ELF magnetic-field exposure led to a large increase in alpha-band brain activity, and caffeine appeared more effective at reducing field-related effects in motor cortex than in visual cortex.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers studied how caffeine and extremely low-frequency magnetic field (ELF-MF) exposure affected brain electrical activity in rats over 15 days. Caffeine given at 10 mg/kg caused a reduction in the mean power amplitude of EEG signals across most frequency bands, especially the alpha band (8–12 Hz), and this effect was more evident in motor cortex than in visual cortex. Exposure to ELF-MF at 0.2 mT enhanced mean power amplitude in most EEG frequency bands, with the effect more pronounced in the right hemisphere than the left. When caffeine was given alongside ELF-MF exposure, a large increase in alpha-band amplitude appeared after 5 days at all recording sites.

Why This Matters

The study measured mean power amplitude of EEG traces across frequency bands in different cortical regions of rat brains. Three conditions were compared: caffeine alone, ELF-MF alone, and caffeine combined with ELF-MF. The caffeine dose used was described as equivalent to human daily consumption. ELF-MF alone caused an enhancement in EEG amplitude, while caffeine alone caused a reduction, and combining caffeine with ELF-MF led to a great increase in the mean power amplitude of the alpha band. The researchers concluded that caffeine may reduce some effects of ELF-MF, but more so in the motor cortex than the visual cortex.

Exposure Details

Magnetic Field
0.2 mT
Source/Device
8–12 Hz
Exposure Duration
15 days

Exposure Context

This study used 0.2 mT for magnetic fields:

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 Exposure Level in ContextStudy Exposure Level in ContextThis study: 0.2 mTExtreme Concern - 5 mGFCC Limit - 2,000 mGEffects observed in the Extreme Concern range (Building Biology)This level is 1 times the FCC limit
A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 12 Hz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 12 HzPower lines50/60 HzCell phones~1 GHzWiFi2.4 GHz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

Study Details

The aim of the present work is to evaluate the effect of caffeine, the world’s most popular psychoactive drug, on the electric activity of the rat’s brain that exposed to extremely low-frequency magnetic field (ELF-MF), during 15 days.

The obtained results showed that administration of caffeine in a group of rats by dose of 10 mg/kg (...

It may be concluded that caffeine administration was more effective in reducing the hazardous of ELF-MF in motor cortex than in visual cortex.

Cite This Study
El Gohary MI, Salama AA, El Saeid AA, El Sayed TM, Kotb HS. (2013). Influence of Magnetic Field on Brain Activity During Administration of Caffeine Cell Biochem Biophys. 67(3):929-933, 2013.
Show BibTeX
@article{mi_2013_influence_of_magnetic_field_246,
  author = {El Gohary MI and Salama AA and El Saeid AA and El Sayed TM and Kotb HS.},
  title = {Influence of Magnetic Field on Brain Activity During Administration of Caffeine},
  year = {2013},
  doi = {10.1007/s12013-013-9584-x},
  url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12013-013-9584-x},
}
DOI: 10.1007/s12013-013-9584-x

Cited By (3 papers)

Quick Questions About This Study

Rats were exposed to an extremely low-frequency magnetic field (ELF-MF) at an intensity of 0.2 mT.
Exposure to ELF-MF caused an enhancement in the mean power amplitude of most EEG frequency bands, more in the right hemisphere than the left.
Caffeine at 10 mg/kg reduced mean EEG power amplitude across most frequency bands, especially the alpha band (8–12 Hz), with the effect more evident in motor cortex than visual cortex.
Combining caffeine with ELF-MF exposure led to a large increase in the mean power amplitude of the alpha band at all recording sites after 5 days.
The researchers concluded that caffeine was more effective in reducing the effects of ELF-MF in motor cortex than in visual cortex.