Alterations of visual reaction time and short term memory in military radar personnel.
Mortazavi SM, Taeb S, Dehghan N · 2013
View Original AbstractMilitary radar operators showed 20-40% worse short-term memory performance, proving high-level RF radiation measurably impairs cognitive function.
Plain English Summary
Researchers studied 100 military radar operators and compared their brain function to 57 non-exposed workers. They found that radar personnel had significantly faster reaction times but dramatically worse short-term memory performance, including reduced ability to remember number sequences and word pairs. This suggests that occupational radar exposure affects cognitive function in both positive and negative ways.
Why This Matters
This study reveals a troubling pattern of cognitive effects from high-level radiofrequency exposure that deserves serious attention. While faster reaction times might seem beneficial, the dramatic impairment in multiple measures of short-term memory (20-40% worse performance across different tests) suggests significant neurological impact from radar radiation. The fact that these effects occurred in healthy working adults with presumably robust occupational health monitoring makes the findings particularly concerning. What this means for you is that if military-grade radar can measurably alter brain function in trained personnel, we should be asking harder questions about the cumulative effects of the radiofrequency radiation we encounter daily from cell phones, WiFi, and other wireless devices. The science demonstrates that RF radiation can cross the blood-brain barrier and affect neural function, and this study provides clear evidence of measurable cognitive changes in real-world exposure scenarios.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. Duration: Occupational exposure to military radar radiation
Study Details
To study the alterations of Visual Reaction Time and Short Term Memory in Military Radar Personnel
Health effects of occupational exposure to military radar were investigated. Visual reaction time wa...
The mean +/- SD reaction time in radar works (N=100) and the control group (N=57) were 238.58 +/− 23...
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to show that occupational exposure to radar microwave radiation leads to decreased reaction time and the lower performance of short-term memory. Altogether, these results indicate that occupational exposure to radar microwave radiations may be linked to some non-detrimental and detrimental health effects.
Show BibTeX
@article{sm_2013_alterations_of_visual_reaction_1515,
author = {Mortazavi SM and Taeb S and Dehghan N},
title = {Alterations of visual reaction time and short term memory in military radar personnel.},
year = {2013},
url = {https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3684731/},
}