MOBILE PHONES MODULATE RESPONSE PATTERNS OF HUMAN BRAIN ACTIVITY

MOBILE phones emit a pulsed high-frequency electro magnetic field (PEM F) which may penetrate the scalp and the skull. Increasingly, there is an interest in the interaction of this pulsed microwave radiation wit h the human brain. Our investigations show that these electromagnetic fields alter distinct aspects of the brain's electrical response to ac oustic stimuli. More precisely, our results demonstrate that aspects o f the induced but not the evoked brain activity during PEMF exposure c an be different from those not influenced by PEMF radiation. This effe ct appears in higher frequency bands when subjects process task-releva nt target stimuli but was not present for irrelevant standard stimuli. As the induced brain activity in higher frequency bands has been prop osed to be a correlate of coherent high-frequency neuronal activity, P EMF exposure may provide means to systematically alter the pattern flu ctuations in neural mass activity. (C) 1998 Lippincott Williams & Wilk ins.