Note: This study found no significant biological effects under its experimental conditions. We include all studies for scientific completeness.
OPERANT BEHAVIOR OF RHESUS MONKEYS IN THE PRESENCE OF EXTREMELY LOW FREQUENCY-LOW INTENSITY MAGNETIC AND ELECTRIC FIELDS: EXPERIMENT 2
No Effects Found
John de Lorge · 1973
1973 monkey study found no behavioral changes from brief ELF exposure, but used too few subjects to detect subtle effects.
Plain English Summary
Summary written for general audiences
Researchers exposed two rhesus monkeys to extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic and electric fields at 45 Hz and 10 Hz to test behavioral effects. The study found no significant changes in reaction time, operant responding, or cognitive tasks. Even minor effects observed at 10 Hz were not clinically meaningful and couldn't be replicated.
Cite This Study
John de Lorge (1973). OPERANT BEHAVIOR OF RHESUS MONKEYS IN THE PRESENCE OF EXTREMELY LOW FREQUENCY-LOW INTENSITY MAGNETIC AND ELECTRIC FIELDS: EXPERIMENT 2.
Show BibTeX
@article{operant_behavior_of_rhesus_monkeys_in_the_presence_of_extremely_low_frequency_lo_g7215,
author = {John de Lorge},
title = {OPERANT BEHAVIOR OF RHESUS MONKEYS IN THE PRESENCE OF EXTREMELY LOW FREQUENCY-LOW INTENSITY MAGNETIC AND ELECTRIC FIELDS: EXPERIMENT 2},
year = {1973},
}Quick Questions About This Study
No, researchers found no significant changes in reaction time, operant responding, or cognitive tasks when two rhesus monkeys were exposed to 45 Hz magnetic and electric fields in this 1973 study.
Some statistically significant effects were observed at 10 Hz, but researchers deemed them not clinically meaningful because the effects didn't occur in both monkeys and couldn't be replicated when experiments were repeated.
Only two rhesus monkeys were used in this 1973 Navy study, which is an extremely small sample size that makes it difficult to draw meaningful conclusions about ELF behavioral effects.
Researchers measured reaction time, operant responding (learned behavioral responses), and match-to-sample cognitive tasks to assess whether ELF magnetic and electric fields affected monkey performance and decision-making abilities.
The Navy was interested in low-intensity extremely low frequency communication systems and wanted to determine if ELF electromagnetic radiation produced biological effects before implementing these technologies for military communications.