RF Safe

Short-term memory in mice is affected by mobile phone radiation.

Pathophysiology : the official journal of the International Society for Pathophysiology · 2011 · Harm · Low evidence

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HarmLow evidencePaper 4349

Chronic exposure to mobile phone radiation at SAR 0.22 W/kg affected recognition memory in mice, particularly during the consolidation phase of the memory task, suggesting EMF may interfere with entorhinal-parahippocampal information transfer pathways.

Study snapshot

PublicationPathophysiology : the official journal of the International Society for Pathophysiology · 2011
Study typeanimal
Reported directionHarm
Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

The effects of mobile phone electromagnetic fields (EMFs) were studied on a non-spatial memory task (Object Recognition Task - ORT) that requires entorhinal cortex function. The task was applied to three groups of mice Mus musculus C57BL/6 (exposed, sham-exposed and control) combined with 3 different radiation exposure protocols. In the first protocol designated "acute exposure", mice 45 days old (PND45 - postnatal day 45) were exposed to mobile phone (MP) radiation (SAR value 0.22W/kg) during the habituation, the training and the test sessions of the ORT, but not during the 10min inter-trial interval (ITI) where consolidation of stored object information takes place. On the second protocol designated "chronic exposure-I", the same mice were exposed for 17 days for 90min/per day starting at PND55 to the same MP radiation. ORT recognition memory was performed at PND72 with radiation present only during the ITI phase. In the third protocol designated "chronic exposure-II", mice continued to be exposed daily under the same conditions up to PND86 having received radiation for 31 days. One day later the ORT test was performed without irradiation present in any of the sessions. The ORT-derived discrimination indices in all three exposure protocols revealed a major effect on the "chronic exposure-I" suggesting a possible severe interaction of EMF with the consolidation phase of recognition memory processes. This may imply that the primary EMF target may be the information transfer pathway connecting the entorhinal-parahippocampal regions which participate in the ORT memory task.

Machine Enhanced Logic

AI evidence extraction

Structured fields below were generated from the paper’s abstract and metadata to make the evidence easier to inspect. Automated extraction may be incomplete or incorrect; verify important details against the original paper.

Study typeanimal
Effect directionharm
Populationmice Mus musculus C57BL/6
Sample sizeNot supplied
ExposureRF · 0.22 W/kg · acute and chronic exposure protocols up to 31 days
Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 40% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Chronic exposure to mobile phone radiation at SAR 0.22 W/kg affected recognition memory in mice, particularly during the consolidation phase of the memory task, suggesting EMF may interfere with entorhinal-parahippocampal information transfer pathways.

Outcomes measured

  • short-term memory assessed by Object Recognition Task (ORT)
  • discrimination indices in ORT

Limitations

  • sample size not specified
  • only one animal species studied
  • frequency of radiation not specified
  • no behavioral measures beyond ORT reported
View raw extracted JSON
{
  "study_type": "animal",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "RF",
    "source": "mobile phone",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": 0.22,
    "duration": "acute and chronic exposure protocols up to 31 days"
  },
  "population": "mice Mus musculus C57BL/6",
  "sample_size": null,
  "outcomes": [
    "short-term memory assessed by Object Recognition Task (ORT)",
    "discrimination indices in ORT"
  ],
  "main_findings": "Chronic exposure to mobile phone radiation at SAR 0.22 W/kg affected recognition memory in mice, particularly during the consolidation phase of the memory task, suggesting EMF may interfere with entorhinal-parahippocampal information transfer pathways.",
  "effect_direction": "harm",
  "limitations": [
    "sample size not specified",
    "only one animal species studied",
    "frequency of radiation not specified",
    "no behavioral measures beyond ORT reported"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.4,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "mobile phone radiation",
    "EMF",
    "memory",
    "object recognition task",
    "mice",
    "entorhinal cortex"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "occupational-exposure",
      "weight": 0.3,
      "reason": "study of mobile phone radiation effects on biological function"
    },
    {
      "slug": "5g-policy",
      "weight": 0.2,
      "reason": "mobile phone radiation exposure relevance"
    }
  ]
}
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AI-extracted fields are generated from the abstract and metadata and may be incomplete or incorrect. This material is for informational purposes and is not medical advice.

Identifiers and source

DOI: 10.1016/j.pathophys.2010.11.001
PubMed: 21112192

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