Reduction of Phosphorylated Synapsin I (Ser-553) Leads to Spatial Memory Impairment by Attenuating GABA Release after Microwave Exposure in Wistar Rats.
Qiao S, Peng R, Yan H, Gao Y, Wang C, Wang S, Zou Y, Xu X, Zhao L, Dong J, Su Z, Feng X, Wang L, Hu X. · 2014
View Original AbstractBrief microwave exposure disrupts brain proteins controlling memory formation, revealing how EMF affects cognitive function at the cellular level.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rats to microwave radiation at 30 mW/cm² for 5 minutes and found it impaired their spatial memory and learning abilities. The study revealed that this radiation disrupted a key brain protein called synapsin I, which controls the release of GABA (a neurotransmitter essential for proper brain function). This disruption in brain chemistry provides a biological mechanism explaining how microwave exposure can affect cognitive performance.
Why This Matters
This research provides crucial mechanistic insight into how microwave radiation affects brain function at the cellular level. The exposure level of 30 mW/cm² is significant because it's within the range of what people can experience from high-powered wireless devices held close to the head, though higher than typical cell phone emissions during calls. What makes this study particularly important is that it identifies a specific biological pathway - the disruption of synapsin I protein and subsequent GABA neurotransmitter dysfunction - that explains the cognitive effects observed in numerous other EMF studies. The science demonstrates that even brief microwave exposure can trigger measurable changes in brain chemistry that persist for days. This adds to the growing body of evidence showing that EMF exposure affects neurological function through identifiable biological mechanisms, not just statistical correlations.
Exposure Details
- Power Density
- 30 µW/m²
- Exposure Duration
- 5 min
Exposure Context
This study used 30 µW/m² for radio frequency:
- 3,000Mx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.1 μW/m²
- 50Mx above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 0.0006 μW/cm²
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
This study investigated the mechanism of this effect by exploring the potential role of phosphorylated synapsin I (p-Syn I).
Wistar rats, rat hippocampal synaptosomes, and differentiated (neuronal) PC12 cells were exposed to ...
In the rat experiments, there was a decrease in spatial memory performance after microwave exposure....
p-Syn I (ser-553) was found to play a key role in the impaired GABA release and cognitive dysfunction that was induced by microwave exposure.
Show BibTeX
@article{s_2014_reduction_of_phosphorylated_synapsin_1279,
author = {Qiao S and Peng R and Yan H and Gao Y and Wang C and Wang S and Zou Y and Xu X and Zhao L and Dong J and Su Z and Feng X and Wang L and Hu X.},
title = {Reduction of Phosphorylated Synapsin I (Ser-553) Leads to Spatial Memory Impairment by Attenuating GABA Release after Microwave Exposure in Wistar Rats.},
year = {2014},
url = {https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3990695/},
}