Effects of 902 MHz electromagnetic field emitted by cellular telephones onresponse times in humans

The present study examined possible influences of a 902 MHz electromagnetic field emitted by cellular telephones on cognitive functioning in 48 health y humans. A battery of 12 reaction time tasks was performed twice by each p articipant in a counterbalanced order: once with and once without the expos ure to the field. The results showed that the exposure to the electromagnet ic field speeded up response times in simple reaction time and vigilance ta sks and that the cognitive time needed in a mental arithmetics task was dec reased. The results suggest that exposure to the electromagnetic field emit ted by cellular telephones may have a facilitatory effect on brain function ing, especially in tasks requiring attention and manipulation of informatio n in working memory. NeuroReport 11:413-415 (C) 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.