Influence of Magnetic Field on Brain Activity During Administration of Caffeine.
El Gohary MI, Salama AA, El Saeid AA, El Sayed TM, Kotb HS. · 2013
View Original AbstractMagnetic fields at power line levels measurably altered rat brain activity within 15 days, with caffeine providing partial protection.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rats to extremely low frequency magnetic fields (the type emitted by power lines and appliances) for 15 days and found these fields significantly altered brain wave patterns, particularly enhancing activity in the right hemisphere. When caffeine was given alongside the magnetic field exposure, it appeared to partially counteract some of the brain changes, especially in areas controlling movement.
Why This Matters
This study reveals something remarkable: extremely low frequency magnetic fields at just 0.2 milliTesla can measurably alter brain electrical activity within 15 days. To put this in perspective, that's roughly the field strength you might encounter standing directly under high-voltage power lines or very close to certain household appliances. What makes this research particularly intriguing is the finding that caffeine seemed to provide some protective effect against these EMF-induced brain changes. The science demonstrates that our brains are far more sensitive to magnetic field exposure than many realize. While this was an animal study, the brain wave patterns measured (EEG frequencies) are fundamentally similar between rats and humans, making these findings highly relevant to human health concerns.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 0.2 mG
- Source/Device
- 8-12 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 15 days
Exposure Context
This study used 0.2 mG for magnetic fields:
- 10Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 2Kx 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
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.
Show BibTeX
@article{mi_2013_influence_of_magnetic_field_638,
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},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23564490/},
}