Research on brain induced effect by extremely low frequency pulsed magnetic stimulation.
Gao X, Wang X, Chen F, Qi H, Wang X, Ming D, Zhou P. · 2014
View Original AbstractTwenty minutes of pulsed magnetic field exposure measurably altered brainwave patterns and slowed cognitive processing in human subjects.
Plain English Summary
Chinese researchers exposed 10 people to extremely low frequency magnetic fields (1 Hz pulses at 10 milliTesla) for 20 minutes and measured their brain activity using EEG. They found significant changes in brainwave patterns and slower cognitive processing compared to a sham exposure group. This demonstrates that even brief exposure to pulsed magnetic fields can measurably alter brain function.
Why This Matters
This study provides direct evidence that extremely low frequency magnetic fields can alter human brain activity in measurable ways. The 10 milliTesla exposure level used here is substantially higher than typical household EMF levels (which range from 0.1 to 3 milliTesla near appliances), but the key finding is that pulsed magnetic fields produced observable neurological changes within just 20 minutes. The researchers documented both changes in brainwave patterns and impaired cognitive performance, specifically slower reaction times and reduced brain response amplitude during attention tasks. What makes this research particularly significant is that it used controlled conditions with sham exposure comparisons, demonstrating that the brain effects were specifically caused by the magnetic field exposure, not placebo effects. While more research is needed to understand long-term implications, this study adds to growing evidence that EMF exposure can influence nervous system function in ways we're only beginning to understand.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 10 mG
- Source/Device
- 1 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 20 min
Exposure Context
This study used 10 mG for magnetic fields:
- 500Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 100Kx 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 Research on brain induced effect by extremely low frequency pulsed magnetic stimulation
we conducted the magnetic stimulation experiments (1 Hz, 10 mT, 20 min), and analyzed the changes of...
Compared with sham exposure group, the EEG power of theta band (3.5-7.5 Hz) and lower-alpha band (7....
We suggested that these results might be explained via event-related synchronization induced by magnetic stimulation.
Show BibTeX
@article{x_2014_research_on_brain_induced_646,
author = {Gao X and Wang X and Chen F and Qi H and Wang X and Ming D and Zhou P.},
title = {Research on brain induced effect by extremely low frequency pulsed magnetic stimulation.},
year = {2014},
url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6944158},
}