Extremely low frequency electromagnetic field exposure causes cognitive impairment associated with alteration of the glutamate level, MAPK pathway activation and decreased CREB phosphorylation in mice hippocampus: reversal by procyanidins extracted from the lotus seedpod
Duan Y, Wang Z, Zhang H, He Y, Fan R, Cheng Y, Sun G, Sun X. · 2014
View Original AbstractEMF exposure at power line frequencies caused measurable cognitive impairment in mice by disrupting brain chemistry critical for memory formation.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed mice to 50 Hz electromagnetic fields (the same frequency used in power lines) for 4 hours daily over 28 days and found significant cognitive impairment and brain chemistry changes. The EMF exposure disrupted critical brain chemicals like glutamate and damaged important cellular pathways involved in memory formation. However, treatment with natural antioxidants from lotus seeds reversed these harmful effects, suggesting the brain damage was preventable.
Why This Matters
This study provides compelling evidence that extremely low frequency EMF exposure at levels found near power infrastructure can cause measurable cognitive damage through specific biochemical mechanisms. The 8 milliTesla exposure level used here is substantially higher than typical household exposures (which range from 0.01 to 1 mT), but it's within the range you might encounter living very close to high-voltage power lines or electrical substations. What makes this research particularly significant is that it identifies the exact biological pathways through which EMF exposure damages brain function, specifically disrupting glutamate signaling and calcium regulation in the hippocampus, the brain's memory center. The fact that natural antioxidants could reverse this damage suggests these effects aren't permanent, but it also confirms that the EMF exposure was indeed causing real biological harm, not just correlation.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 8 mG
- Source/Device
- 50 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 4 h/day for 28 days
Exposure Context
This study used 8 mG for magnetic fields:
- 400Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 80Kx 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
In this study we determined whether the ELF-EMF (50 Hz, 8 mT, 28 days) exposure induced alterations of glutamate release in mice hippocampus and explored the possible mechanism, and if LSPC treatment normalized its alterations.
The results showed that ELF-EMF exposure induced the increased contents of glutamate, GABA, excessiv...
Thus, the results from the present study suggest that p-ERK1/2, p-JNK1/2, [Ca2+]i and p-CREB expression normalized, possibly via a NMDA receptor-channel through the changes of GABA, glutamate and NR2B, which might be responsible for the neuroprotective or memory enhancing effects of LSPCs.
Show BibTeX
@article{y_2014_extremely_low_frequency_electromagnetic_245,
author = {Duan Y and Wang Z and Zhang H and He Y and Fan R and Cheng Y and Sun G and Sun X.},
title = {Extremely low frequency electromagnetic field exposure causes cognitive impairment associated with alteration of the glutamate level, MAPK pathway activation and decreased CREB phosphorylation in mice hippocampus: reversal by procyanidins extracted from the lotus seedpod},
year = {2014},
url = {https://pubs.rsc.org/lv/content/articlelanding/2014/fo/c4fo00250d/unauth#!divAbstract},
}