Smartphone Use Found to Influence Brain Activity

by | Apr 22, 2016 | 2015, Brain Health, Environmental Health, Radioactivity and Irradiation

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Brain activity is significantly altered during cell phone usage when cell phones are held against the ear.

The last decade has seen an explosion in the use of mobile phone use, especially since the advent of smartphones, with 6.8 billion registered mobile phones in 2013 (1). But with the emergence of 3rd generation (3G) phone technology is the worry of adverse health effects from the frequency band used (1.9-2.1 GHz). In 2011, the Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that there is “limited evidence in humans” and mobile phone radiation was classified as a group 2B carcinogen, “possibly carcinogenic” (2). In 2012, however, a report of the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme concluded that there is no evidence of carcinogenic effects due to exposure to mobile phone signals (3).

Although the effects of mobile phone radiation on brain activity have been studied since the mid-1990s (4), consistent results have not been reached (5). Now a new study (6) looks further into the effects of cell phone radiation on brain activity.

In the study, 31 healthy females aged 19 to 34 were measured on two different days: On one of the two days the mobile phone was attached to the ear; on the other day it was attached to the chest for 15 minutes with either an actual smartphone or a sham phone that did not emit radiation. During the 15-minute exposure, brain activity was recorded (EEG).

The researchers not only found that brain activity was “significantly altered” in 16 of the 18 brain activity measurements, but several types of brain waves were affected (Delta, theta, alpha, slow-beta, fast-beta) and the side the brain closest to the phone experienced the biggest changes. Having the phone on the chest did not alter brain waves, only holding the phone against the ear. Unfortunately, the researchers did not provide data on the brain activity but rather showed the p values for each segment of the brain, all of which were < 0.01 in 16 of the 18 measurements.

When discussing the potential health consequences, the researchers admit that “answering this question is complex” as “EEG is a reflection of very complex cerebral processes” and “it is also hard to draw conclusions on the (clinical) implications of EEG changes.” They do suggest that future studies analyze effects on concentration as beta waves are related to concentration (7) and were significantly altered in this study.

For the researchers, “The results support the notion that EEG alterations are associated with mobile phone usage and that the effect is dependent on site of placement” and that “Further studies are required to demonstrate the physiological relevance of these findings.”

Source: Roggeveen S, van Os J, Viechtbauer W, Lousberg R (2015) EEG Changes Due to Experimentally Induced 3G Mobile Phone Radiation. PLoS ONE 10(6): e0129496. doi:10.1371/journal. pone.0129496

© 2015 Roggeveen et al. Creative Commons Attribution License

Click here to read the full text study.

Posted October 6, 2015.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com.

References:

  1. InternationalCommunicationUnion (2013) ICT facts and figures.
  2. Baan R, Grosse Y, Lauby-Secretan B, El Ghissassi F, Bouvard V, Benbrahim-Tallaa L, et al. Carcinogenicity of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. The Lancet Oncology 2011;12: 624–626
  3. Coggon D. Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme, Report 2012
  4. Reiser H, Dimpfel W, Schober F. The influence of electromagnetic fields on human brain activity. European Journal of medical research 1995; 1: 27–32
  5. Valentini E, Curcio G, Moroni F, Ferrara M, De Gennaro L, Bertini M, et al. Neurophysiological effects of mobile phone electromagnetic fields on humans: a comprehensive review. Bioelectromagnetics 2007;28: 415–432
  6. Roggeveen S. EEG Changes Due to Experimentally Induced 3G Mobile Phone Radiation. PLoS One 2015 Jun 8;10(6):e0129496. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0129496. eCollection 2015
  7. Lopes da Silva F (1991) Neural mechanisms underlying brain waves: from neural membranes to networks. Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology 79: 81–93