Spatial memory performance of Wistar rats exposed to mobile phone.
Narayanan SN, Kumar RS, Potu BK, Nayak S, Mailankot M · 2009
View Original AbstractMobile phone radiation impaired rats' spatial memory by 300%, suggesting everyday phone use may affect learning and navigation abilities.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rats to mobile phone signals (50 missed calls daily for 4 weeks) and then tested their ability to navigate a water maze to find a hidden platform. Phone-exposed rats took 3 times longer to find the target area and spent half as much time in the correct location compared to unexposed rats. This suggests mobile phone radiation may impair spatial memory and learning ability.
Why This Matters
This study adds to a growing body of research showing that radiofrequency radiation can affect brain function, specifically the cognitive processes involved in learning and memory. The exposure protocol (50 missed calls per day) may seem artificial, but it represents the kind of intermittent RF exposure many people experience from their phones throughout the day. What makes this research particularly relevant is that spatial memory and navigation are fundamental cognitive functions we rely on daily. The science demonstrates that even without the phone ringing or vibrating against the body, the electromagnetic fields alone were sufficient to impair the rats' ability to learn and remember spatial information. While we can't directly extrapolate animal studies to humans, this research contributes to the evidence that our devices may be affecting brain function in ways we're only beginning to understand.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. The study examined exposure from: 900–1,800 MHz Mobile phone Duration: 50 missed call/day, 4 wk
Study Details
We tested the effects of mobile phone exposure on spatial memory performance.
Male Wistar rats (10-12 weeks old) were exposed to 50 missed calls/day for 4 weeks from a GSM (900/1...
Mobile phone exBoth phone exposed and control animals showed a significant decrease in escape time w...
Mobile phone exposure affected the acquisition of learned responses in Wistar rats. This in turn points to the poor spatial navigation and the object place configurations of the phone-exposed animals.
Show BibTeX
@article{sn_2009_spatial_memory_performance_of_1518,
author = {Narayanan SN and Kumar RS and Potu BK and Nayak S and Mailankot M},
title = {Spatial memory performance of Wistar rats exposed to mobile phone.},
year = {2009},
url = {https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1807-59322009000300014&script=sci_abstract&tlng=pt},
}