Australian study shows cell phones affect brain functioning

Researchers in Melbourne, Australia have found that radiation from mobile phones affects how the brain works.

Scientists from Melbourne’s Swinburne University of Technology Brain Sciences Institute found that people’s response times slowed during a half hour cell phone call but their memory seemed to improve.

Researchers conducted a series of psychological tests on 120 volunteer subjects as they exposed themselves to cellular emissions for 30 minutes at a time.

On volunteers not exposed to mobile phone radiation, another series of tests were conducted. These volunteers were unaware they were not being subjected to cellular emissions.

The study findings were published in April’s edition of Neuropsychologia and showed a minor but detectable change in brain function among those exposed to the electromagnetic fields that cell phones generate.

According to lead researchers Con Stough, “The study showed evidence of slower response times for participants undertaking simple reactions and more complex reactions, such as choosing a response when there is more than one alternative.”

He went on to say, “This could equate to driving a car and being distracted by another car pulling out in front of you. The drivers reaction time to choose between braking, turning or sounding the horn could be affected, albeit slightly. The study also found that radiation from mobile phones seems to improve working memory, used for example when remembering a phone number long enough to dial it.”

Stough commented that there was a need for further work utilizing magnetic resonance imaging to clearly show how cell phones alter the way the brain functions. He mentioned that further, as-yet-unpublished, research by his team suggests there is a cumulative impact of cellular radiation on the brain.

He explains, “People, for instance, who use the mobile phone a lot seem to have more of an impairment than people who are more naïve users.”

Stough stressed, however, that the impact on the brain was minor and the study did not find that using cellular phones caused a health problem. He said his research had not established a negative health consequence, and that to do so would require a different type of study altogether.

“We’re just showing that the radiation is actually active on the brain. But the impairment is small. The convenience and the way that we communicate now these days outweighs that effect,” he summed up.

© Copyright 2007 Insight Journal Online Magazine.

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