Extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields enhance the proliferation and differentiation of neural progenitor cells cultured from ischemic brains.
Cheng Y, Dai Y, Zhu X, Xu H, Cai P, Xia R, Mao L, Zhao BQ, Fan W. · 2015
View Original AbstractThis study shows that 50 Hz magnetic fields at 0.4 mT enhanced brain cell regeneration after stroke, suggesting therapeutic potential for specific EMF exposures.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed brain stem cells (neural progenitor cells) from stroke-damaged brains to 50 Hz magnetic fields at 0.4 mT for 7 days. The magnetic field exposure significantly increased both cell multiplication and the development of these stem cells into neurons. This suggests that extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields might help brain recovery after stroke by promoting the growth of new brain cells.
Why This Matters
This research reveals a fascinating biological response that challenges the typical narrative around EMF health effects. While most EMF research focuses on potential harm, this study demonstrates that certain frequencies and intensities can actually stimulate beneficial brain cell regeneration. The 0.4 mT exposure level is roughly 800 times stronger than typical household magnetic field exposures, but well within the range of therapeutic devices used in medical settings. What makes this particularly significant is the specific mechanism identified - the Akt cellular pathway - which provides a concrete biological explanation for how EMFs influence brain cell behavior. The reality is that EMFs exist on a spectrum of biological effects, and this research adds important nuance to our understanding of how different exposures can produce vastly different outcomes in living tissue.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 0.4 mG
- Source/Device
- 50 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 7 days of cumulative ELF-EMF exposure
Exposure Context
This study used 0.4 mG for magnetic fields:
- 20Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 4Kx 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 present studies were carried out to examine the effects of ELF-EMF on hippocampal NPCs cultured from embryonic and adult ischemic brains.
We found that exposure to ELF-EMF (50 Hz, 0.4 mT) significantly enhanced the proliferation capabilit...
These data show that ELF-EMF promotes neurogenesis of ischemic NPCs and suggest that this effect may occur through the Akt pathway.
Show BibTeX
@article{y_2015_extremely_lowfrequency_electromagnetic_fields_613,
author = {Cheng Y and Dai Y and Zhu X and Xu H and Cai P and Xia R and Mao L and Zhao BQ and Fan W.},
title = {Extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields enhance the proliferation and differentiation of neural progenitor cells cultured from ischemic brains.},
year = {2015},
url = {https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/wk/nerep/2015/00000026/00000015/art00003},
}