Sakhnini L, Al Ali H, Al Qassab N, Al Arab E, Kamal A. · 2012
Researchers investigated the possible effect of ELF-EMFs on motor performance in prenatal and neonatal exposed mice. Motor performance was evaluated using rotarod experiments after 5 days of subacute exposure. Prenatal exposed groups showed a pronounced deficit in learning abilities, but no pronounced effect was observed for the neonatal exposed group.
Rageh MM, El-Gebaly RH, El-Bialy NS. · 2012
Researchers exposed newborn rats continuously to a 50 Hz, 0.5 mT extremely low-frequency magnetic field for 30 days, starting when the rats were 10 days old. DNA damage in brain cells, measured by comet assay, was significantly higher in the exposed group. Exposure was associated with a significant four-fold increase in micronucleus induction and about a three-fold increase in mitotic index in bone marrow cells. Exposed rats also showed significantly higher levels of MDA and SOD, while ELF-MF failed to alter the activity of GSH.
Rauš S, Selaković V, Radenović L, Prolić Z, Janać B. · 2012
Researchers studied how an extremely low frequency magnetic field affects motor behaviour in 3-month-old Mongolian gerbils that had undergone global cerebral ischemia. After a 10-minute blockage of both common carotid arteries, gerbils were continuously exposed to ELF-MF at 50 Hz and 0.5 mT for 7 days, and their behaviour was monitored on days 1, 2, 4, 7, and 14 after reperfusion. Ischemia alone caused significant increases in locomotion, stereotypy, and rotations, along with decreased immobility, up to day 4 after reperfusion compared to control gerbils. ELF-MF exposure inhibited ischemia-induced motor hyperactivity throughout the observation period, though significantly only in the first 2 days after reperfusion.
Legros A et al. · 2012
Researchers investigated the effects of a 60 Hz, 1,800 μT magnetic field on neurophysiological and neuromotor measures in humans, including EEG, standing balance, voluntary motor function, and physiological tremor. Results suggested a reduction of human standing balance and an increase of physiological tremor amplitude in the frequency range associated with central nervous system contribution, while no exposure effect appeared on EEG or voluntary motor control. The researchers concluded that 1 h of 60 Hz, 1,800 μT magnetic field exposure may modulate human involuntary motor control without being detected in cortical electrical activity.
Korpinar MA, Kalkan MT, Tuncel H. · 2012
Anxiety and stress-related behavioral changes were investigated by elevated plus-maze and hole-board systems. In the elevated plus-maze, exposed rats spent proportionally less time on open arms than control rats (0.12±0.08 versus 0.34±0.18, p <0.01), while hole-board results showed no statistically significant differences between the two groups.
Janać B et al. · 2012
Researchers investigated how extremely low frequency magnetic fields affected locomotion, stereotypy, and immobility in 3- and 10-month-old male Mongolian gerbils. The animals were continuously exposed to ELF-MF for seven days. In the younger gerbils, all three field strengths increased locomotion and stereotypy and decreased immobility. In the older gerbils, the lowest field strength decreased motor behavior, the middle strength produced a slight increase, and the highest strength produced a pronounced stimulation.
Fournier NM, Mach QH, Whissell PD, Persinger MA. · 2012
Pregnant Wistar rats were continuously exposed to one of four intensities of a complex magnetic field throughout gestation. Exposure to weaker or stronger intensities of the same field pattern did not interfere with hippocampal development or fear behavior.
Das S, Kumar S, Jain S, Avelev VD, Mathur R. · 2012
Researchers studied the effect of a 50 Hz, 17.96 μT magnetic field on rats after a hemisection injury of the T13 spinal cord, measuring locomotor function, motor responses to noxious stimuli, and neuronal excitability. Rats were divided into a sham-exposed group and a group exposed to the magnetic field for 2 hours per day for 6 weeks. The magnetic-field-exposed group showed a statistically significant improvement in BBB score over the sham control group, and bladder control was dramatically restored earlier than in the sham group. The researchers suggested that this magnetic field exposure promotes recovery of sensori-motor behavior including locomotion and bladder control in spinal-cord-injured rats.
Cui Y, Ge Z, Rizak JD, Zhai C, Zhou Z, Gong S, Che Y. · 2012
Researchers examined the effects of extremely low frequency magnetic field (ELF-MF) exposure on learning in mice using two water maze tasks. ELF-MF exposure at 1 mT, 50 Hz was associated with oxidative stress in the hippocampus and striatum, and impaired both spatial learning and habit learning. The study provides evidence for an association between impaired learning and oxidative stress in the hippocampus and striatum induced by ELF-MF exposure.
Cho SI et al. · 2012
Researchers designed the study to confirm that extremely low-frequency magnetic fields affect neuronal NOS in several brain regions and to investigate the correlation between nitric oxide and nNOS activation. Exposure of rats to a 2 mT, 60 Hz ELF-MF for 5 days resulted in increases of nitric oxide levels in parallel with cGMP elevations in the cerebral cortex, striatum, and hippocampus. The numbers of nNOS-immunoreactive neurons were significantly increased in those cerebral areas in ELF-MF-exposed rats. Staining and electron microscopy showed no significant differences in the morphology or number of neurons in the cerebral cortex, striatum, and hippocampus.
Akpinar D, Ozturk N, Ozen S, Agar A, Yargicoglu P. · 2012
Researchers divided thirty female Wistar rats, aged 3 months, into three equal groups: a control group, a group exposed to electric fields at 12 kV/m, and a group exposed at 18 kV/m, with exposure applied for 14 days at 1 hour per day. Brain and retina oxidative stress markers were significantly increased in both exposed groups compared to the control group. Total antioxidant status levels were significantly decreased in both brain and retina in the exposed groups compared to the control group. All visual evoked potential components were significantly prolonged in rats exposed to electric fields compared to the control group.
Yang XS, He GL, Hao YT, Xiao Y, Chen CH, Zhang GB, Yu ZP. · 2012
Researchers exposed adult male Sprague-Dawley rats to a 2.45 GHz electromagnetic field at a specific absorption rate of 6 W/kg, or to sham conditions, then examined gene and protein expression in the hippocampus. Of 2048 candidate genes examined, 23 were upregulated and 18 were downregulated. Two heat shock proteins, HSP27 and HSP70, stood out because their expression levels were increased in the rat hippocampus. The researchers concluded that their data provide direct evidence that exposure to electromagnetic fields elicits a stress response in the rat hippocampus.
Spichtig S, Scholkmann F, Chin L, Lehmann H, Wolf M · 2012
Researchers used near-infrared spectroscopy to assess potential effects of UMTS electromagnetic fields on blood circulation in the auditory region of the human head. Three different exposures (sham, 0.18 W/kg, and 1.8 W/kg) were applied in a controlled, randomized, crossover, and double-blind paradigm on 16 healthy volunteers. During exposure to 0.18 W/kg, a significant short-term increase in oxyhaemoglobin and total haemoglobin was found, described as small compared to a functional brain activation. Medium-term heart rate was significantly higher (+1.84 bpm) at 1.8 W/kg than for sham exposure, while the other parameters showed no significant effects.
Sokolovic D et al. · 2012
Researchers exposed Wistar rats to microwave radiation for 4 hours per day and tested whether melatonin could counter any resulting changes in body mass or behaviour. A significant body mass reduction was noted in animals exposed to MW radiation when compared to controls after 20, 40 and 60 days (p<0.001). Exposed animals showed anxiety-related behaviour described as agitation and irritability after 10 days of exposure, and these changes became less noticeable after the radiation source was removed. Melatonin pretreatment significantly increased body weight in irradiated rats compared to irradiated rats without melatonin after 20 days (p<0.05), and melatonin administration caused a decrease in stress-induced behaviour.
Schmid MR et al. · 2012
Twenty-five young healthy men took part in a randomized double-blind crossover design, exposed at weekly intervals to different conditions for 30 minutes before sleep. The conditions were a 2-Hz pulse-modulated radio frequency field, a 2-Hz pulsed magnetic field, and sham. Radio frequency exposure increased electroencephalogram power in the spindle frequency range. Delta and theta activity during non-rapid eye movement sleep, and alpha and delta activity during rapid eye movement sleep, were affected following both exposure conditions. No effect on sleep architecture and no clear impact of exposure on cognition was observed.
Schmid MR et al. · 2012
Thirty young healthy men were exposed, at weekly intervals, for 30 minutes directly before an 8-hour sleep period to a 900-MHz RF EMF pulse-modulated at 14 Hz, at 217 Hz, or to a sham control. EEG power in the spindle frequency range was increased during non-rapid eye movement sleep after the 14-Hz pulse-modulated condition, while a similar but non-significant increase was also observed after the 217-Hz condition. No clear exposure-related effects on cognitive performance were seen, and the exposure-induced effect showed considerable individual variability.
Nittby H et al. · 2012
Researchers exposed 29 land snails of the strain Helix pomatia to GSM electromagnetic fields at 1900 MHz at 48 mW/kg for 1 hour each, while 29 snails served as sham controls. Before and after exposure, snails were placed on a hot plate and the time until they retracted was measured by two blinded observers. GSM-exposed snails were less sensitive to thermal pain compared to sham controls, indicating a significant analgesia (Mann-Whitney p < 0.001).
Nazıroğlu M et al. · 2012
Researchers divided rats into four groups: a cage control, a sham control, a group exposed to 2.45 GHz electromagnetic radiation, and a group exposed to the same radiation while also receiving melatonin. The radiation-exposed groups received that exposure for 60 minutes per day for 30 days, after which brain cortex and dorsal root ganglion samples and EEG recordings were collected. Lipid peroxidation, cell viability, and cytosolic calcium values in dorsal root ganglion neurons were higher in the radiation-only group than in the control groups. The melatonin-plus-radiation group showed lower EEG spike numbers and higher brain cortex vitamin E concentration compared with the radiation-only group.
Mortazavi SM et al. · 2012
Researchers measured visual reaction time in 160 right-handed university students aged 18 to 31 before and after a 10-minute real or sham exposure to electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones. The mean reaction time after real exposure was 286.78 ms and after sham exposure was 295.86 ms (P < 0.001). The researchers also compared reaction times across low-level, moderate, and frequent mobile phone users to assess possible chronic exposure effects. Male students showed shorter reaction times than female students in both talk and standby modes.
Megha K et al. · 2012
Researchers exposed male Fischer-344 rats to 900 MHz and 1800 MHz microwave radiation for 30 days at 2 hours per day to evaluate oxidative stress, cognitive impairment, and inflammation in the brain. Compared with sham-exposed animals, microwave-exposed rats showed significant impairment in cognitive function and oxidative stress in brain tissues. A significant increase in the cytokines IL-6 and TNF-alpha was also observed following microwave exposure.
Maskey D, Kim HJ, Kim HG, Kim MJ. · 2012
Researchers exposed mice to 835 MHz radiofrequency at SAR values of 1.6 W/kg and 4.0 W/kg for one month to study effects in the hippocampus. Compared with a sham control group, both exposed groups showed decreased calbindin D28-k and calretinin, loss of immunoreactive cells, and increased GFAP with hypertrophic cytoplasmic processes. The group exposed at 4.0 W/kg showed a more prominent decrease in calbindin and calretinin, and more prominent GFAP immunoreactivity, than the group exposed at 1.6 W/kg.
Lu Y et al. · 2012
Researchers exposed Wistar rats to 2.45 GHz pulsed microwave irradiation at a power density of 1 mW/cm2 for 3 hours per day for up to 30 days. Microwave exposure induced spatial learning and memory impairments in rats, and reduced hippocampal glucose uptake in the absence or presence of insulin. Blood glucose and insulin levels were not affected, but spatial memory deficits were reversed by systemic glucose treatment.
Loughran SP, McKenzie RJ, Jackson ML, Howard ME, Croft RJ. · 2012
Twenty volunteers each underwent two experimental nights in which they were randomly exposed to either an active or sham condition before a full night of sleep. EEG spectral power was increased in the sleep spindle frequency range in the first 30 minutes of non-REM sleep after active exposure. The increase was more prominent in participants who had already shown an increase in the original study, suggesting the effect is sensitive to individual variability.
Liu YX et al. · 2012
Researchers exposed rat astrocytes and C6 glioma cells to 1950-MHz TD-SCDMA electromagnetic fields for 12, 24, and 48 hours to investigate whether the radiation would alter glial cell biology and act as a tumor-promoting agent. After 48 hours of exposure, mitochondria were damaged and significant apoptosis of astrocytes was induced, with increased expression of bax and a reduced level of bcl-2. Astrocytes did not form tumors in either the control or exposed groups, and exposed C6 glioma cells showed no significant differences in biological features or tumor formation ability compared with unexposed cells.
Li Y, Shi C, Lu G, Xu Q, Liu S. · 2012
Researchers exposed 8-week-old Wistar rats to near-field radiation at 0.52–1.08 W/kg for 2 hours per day for 1 month. Behavioral changes were examined using the Morris water maze, and the irradiated rats exhibited impaired performance compared with the sham-irradiated rats. The morphological changes included mitochondrial degenerations, fewer synapses, and shorter postsynaptic densities in the radiated rats.
