Exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic field restores spinal cord injury-induced tonic pain and its related neurotransmitter concentration in the brain.
Kumar S, Jain S, Velpandian T, Petrovich Gerasimenko Y, D Avelev V, Behari J, Behari M, Mathur R. · 2013
View Original AbstractPower-line frequency magnetic fields restored normal brain chemistry and pain responses in spinal cord injured rats at everyday exposure levels.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rats with spinal cord injuries to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (50 Hz, similar to power lines) for 2 hours daily over 8 weeks. They found that this exposure helped restore normal pain responses and brain chemistry that had been disrupted by the spinal injuries. The magnetic field treatment appeared to normalize levels of key brain chemicals like serotonin and GABA that control pain perception.
Why This Matters
This study demonstrates that extremely low-frequency magnetic fields can produce measurable biological effects on brain chemistry and pain processing. The exposure level of 17.96 μT is comparable to what you might encounter near power lines or some household appliances, though lower than many occupational exposures. What makes this research particularly significant is that it shows EMFs don't just cause biological changes - they can potentially restore normal function when the body's systems are disrupted. The science demonstrates that magnetic fields at everyday exposure levels can alter neurotransmitter concentrations in the brain, affecting fundamental processes like pain perception. This adds to the growing body of evidence that EMF exposure produces real biological effects, even when those effects might sometimes appear beneficial in specific medical contexts.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 0.0179 mG
- Source/Device
- 50 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 2 h/day × 8 weeks
Exposure Context
This study used 0.0179 mG for magnetic fields:
- 895x above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 179x 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 this study is to observe Exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic field restores spinal cord injury-induced tonic pain and its related neurotransmitter concentration in the brain.
We report the effect of magnetic field (MF; 17.96 μT, 50 Hz) on tonic pain behavior and related neur...
Session-PR, block-PR and number of flinches were significantly lower, while time spent in categories...
We suggest beneficial effect of chronic (2 h/day × 8 weeks) exposure to MF (50 Hz, 17.96 μT) on tonic pain that is mediated by 5-HT, GABA and NE in complete SCI rats.
Show BibTeX
@article{s_2013_exposure_to_extremely_lowfrequency_668,
author = {Kumar S and Jain S and Velpandian T and Petrovich Gerasimenko Y and D Avelev V and Behari J and Behari M and Mathur R.},
title = {Exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic field restores spinal cord injury-induced tonic pain and its related neurotransmitter concentration in the brain.},
year = {2013},
doi = {10.3109/15368378.2012.743907},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/15368378.2012.743907},
}