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Brain & Nervous System

No effects of mobile phone use on cortical auditory change-detection in children: An ERP study.

No Effects Found

Kwon MS, Huotilainen M, Shestakova A, Kujala T, Näätänen R, Hämäläinen H. · 2010

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This small study found no immediate brain effects from 12 minutes of cell phone exposure in children, but lacked power to detect subtle changes.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers tested whether cell phone radiation affects children's brain processing of sounds by placing GSM phones emitting 902 MHz signals next to 17 children's heads for 12 minutes while measuring brain activity. They found no statistically significant changes in the children's auditory processing abilities during exposure. However, the study was only large enough to detect major effects, meaning smaller impacts could have been missed.

Exposure Information

A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 217 Hz - 902 MHz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 217 Hz - 902 MHzPower lines50/60 HzCell phones~1 GHzWiFi2.4 GHz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

The study examined exposure from: 902 MHz pulsed at 217 Hz Duration: Two 6 min blocks for each side

Study Details

We investigated the effect of mobile phone use on the auditory sensory memory in children.

Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs), P1, N2, mismatch negativity (MMN), and P3a, were recorded ...

We found that a short exposure (two 6 min blocks for each side) to mobile phone EMF has no statistic...

Cite This Study
Kwon MS, Huotilainen M, Shestakova A, Kujala T, Näätänen R, Hämäläinen H. (2010). No effects of mobile phone use on cortical auditory change-detection in children: An ERP study. Bioelectromagnetics.31(3):191-199, 2010.
Show BibTeX
@article{ms_2010_no_effects_of_mobile_3168,
  author = {Kwon MS and Huotilainen M and Shestakova A and Kujala T and Näätänen R and Hämäläinen H.},
  title = {No effects of mobile phone use on cortical auditory change-detection in children: An ERP study.},
  year = {2010},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19771547/},
}
PubMed: 19771547

Cited By (30 papers)

Quick Questions About This Study

A 2010 study found no significant effects on children's auditory processing when exposed to 902 MHz GSM radiation for 12 minutes. The research measured brain activity in 17 children but could only detect large effects, meaning smaller impacts might have been missed.
Research shows 12 minutes of GSM phone radiation (902 MHz) placed next to children's heads did not significantly alter their brain's ability to detect sound changes. However, the study's small size meant it could only identify major effects, not subtle changes.
A Finnish study found no statistically significant changes in children's auditory brain processing during 902 MHz GSM exposure. While this suggests short-term safety, the researchers noted their study could only detect large effects, leaving questions about smaller impacts unanswered.
The study exposed 17 children to 902 MHz GSM radiation for two 6-minute blocks on each side of their heads (12 minutes total). During this exposure, researchers measured brain activity to detect changes in auditory processing but found no significant effects.
Scientists measured mismatch negativity (MMN) responses, which show how the brain detects changes in sounds. Despite 902 MHz GSM radiation exposure for 12 minutes, children's neural change-detection profiles remained statistically unchanged, though only large effects could be detected.