Social behavioral testing and brain magnetic resonance imaging in chicks exposed to mobile phone radiation during development.
Zhou Z, Shan J, Zu J, Chen Z, Ma W, Li L, Xu J. · 2016
View Original AbstractMobile phone radiation during development caused measurable brain shrinkage and impaired social behaviors in chicks, highlighting developmental vulnerability to EMF exposure.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed developing chick embryos to 900 MHz mobile phone radiation for 10 hours daily during incubation, then tested their social behaviors and brain development after hatching. The radiation-exposed chicks showed significantly impaired social behaviors - they were slower to join groups, less likely to stay with other chicks, and made weaker vocalizations. Brain scans revealed that their cerebellums (the brain region controlling movement and coordination) were smaller than normal.
Why This Matters
This study provides compelling evidence that radiofrequency radiation can disrupt normal brain development during critical developmental windows. The behavioral changes observed - impaired social bonding and communication - mirror concerning patterns researchers have documented in human studies examining children's development in high-EMF environments. What makes this research particularly significant is that it demonstrates measurable structural brain changes alongside functional behavioral deficits. The cerebellum, which showed reduced size in exposed chicks, plays crucial roles in motor coordination, balance, and increasingly recognized social and cognitive functions. While we can't directly extrapolate from chicks to humans, this adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that developing nervous systems are particularly vulnerable to EMF exposure during critical growth periods.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effect of mobile phone radiation (900 MHz radiofrequency) during hatching on postnatal social behaviors in chicks, as well as the effect on brain size and structural maturity estimated using 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging.
At day 4 of incubation, 76 normally developing chick embryos were divided into the control group (n ...
Compared with controls, chicks in the radiation group showed significantly slower aggregation respon...
Mobile phone radiation exposure during chick embryogenesis impaired social behaviors after hatching and possibly induced cerebellar retardation. This indicates potential adverse effects of mobile phone radiation on brain development.
Show BibTeX
@article{z_2016_social_behavioral_testing_and_2714,
author = {Zhou Z and Shan J and Zu J and Chen Z and Ma W and Li L and Xu J.},
title = {Social behavioral testing and brain magnetic resonance imaging in chicks exposed to mobile phone radiation during development.},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1186/s12868-016-0266-7},
url = {https://bmcneurosci.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12868-016-0266-7},
}