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Nonlinear changes in brain electrical activity due to cell phone radiation
Author(s) -
Marino Andrew A.,
Nilsen Erik,
Frilot Clifton
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
bioelectromagnetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.435
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-186X
pISSN - 0197-8462
DOI - 10.1002/bem.10098
Subject(s) - electroencephalography , specific absorption rate , radiation , electromagnetic field , absorption (acoustics) , bioelectromagnetics , non ionizing radiation , human head , biomedical engineering , antenna (radio) , physics , medicine , acoustics , computer science , neuroscience , biology , telecommunications , optics , quantum mechanics
We studied the effect of an electromagnetic field from a cellular telephone on brain electrical activity, using a novel analytical method based on a nonlinear model. The electroencephalogram (EEG) from rabbits was embedded in phase space and local recurrence plots were calculated and quantified using recurrence quantitation analysis to permit statistical comparisons between filtered segments of exposed and control epochs from individual rabbits. When the rabbits were exposed to the radiation from a standard cellular telephone (800 MHz band, 600 mW maximum radiated power) under conditions that simulated normal human use, the EEG was significantly affected in nine of ten animals studied. The effect occurred beginning about 100 ms after initiation of application of the field and lasted ∼300 ms. In each case, the fields increased the randomness in the EEG. A control procedure ruled out the possibility that the observations were a product of the method of analysis. No differences were found between exposed and control epochs in any animal when the experiment was repeated after the rabbits had been sacrificed, indicating that absorption of radiation by the EEG electrodes could not account for the observed effect. No effect was seen when deposition of energy in the brain was minimized by repositioning the radiating antenna from the head to the chest, showing that the type of tissue that absorbed the energy determined the observed changes in the EEG. We conclude that, in normal use, the fields from a standard cellular telephone can alter brain function as a consequence of absorption of energy by the brain. Bioelectromagnetics 24:339‐346, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.