"This was a completely unexpected finding," Horne told me. "We didn't suspect any effect on EEG [after switching off the phone]. We were interested in studying the effect of mobile phone signals on sleep itself." But it quickly became obvious to Horne and colleagues in preparing for the sleep-research experiments that some of the test subjects had difficulty falling asleep.
Horne and his colleagues controlled a Nokia 6310e cell phone—another popular and basic phone—attached to the head of 10 healthy but sleep-deprived men in their sleep research lab. (Their sleep had been restricted to six hours the previous night.) The researchers then monitored the men's brainwaves by EEG while the phone was switched on and off by remote computer, and also switched between "standby," "listen" and "talk" modes of operation for 30 minute intervals on different nights. The experiment revealed that after the phone was switched to "talk" mode a different brain-wave pattern, called delta waves (in the range of one to four Hertz), remained dampened for nearly one hour after the phone was shut off. These brainwaves are the most reliable and sensitive marker of stage two sleep—approximately 50 percent of total sleep consists of this stage—and the subjects remained awake twice as long after the phone transmitting in talk mode was shut off. Although the test subjects had been sleep-deprived the night before, they could not fall asleep for nearly one hour after the phone had been operating without their knowledge.
Although this research shows that cell phone transmissions can affect a person's brainwaves with persistent effects on behavior, Horne does not feel there is any need for concern that cell phones are damaging. The arousal effects the researchers measured are equivalent to about half a cup of coffee, and many other factors in a person's surroundings will affect a night's sleep as much or more than cell phone transmissions.
"The significance of the research," he explained, is that although the cell phone power is low, "electromagnetic radiation can nevertheless have an effect on mental behavior when transmitting at the proper frequency." He finds this fact especially remarkable when considering that everyone is surrounded by electromagnetic clutter radiating from all kinds of electronic devices in our modern world. Cell phones in talk mode seem to be particularly well-tuned to frequencies that affect brainwave activity. "The results show sensitivity to low-level radiation to a subtle degree. These findings open the door by a crack for more research to follow. One only wonders if with different doses, durations, or other devices, would there be greater effects?"
Croft of Swinburne emphasizes that there are no health worries from these new findings. "The exciting thing about this research is that it allows us to have a look at how you might modulate brain function and this [look] tells us something about how the brain works on a fundamental level." In other words, the importance of this work is in illuminating the fundamental workings of the brain-scientists can now splash away with their own self-generated electromagnetic waves and learn a great deal about how brainwaves respond and what they do.
Mind Matters is edited by Jonah Lehrer, the science writer behind the blog The Frontal Cortex and the book Proust was a Neuroscientist.
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42 Comments
Add CommentA sleep study with ten subjects? Goodness! Couldn't you find a weaker study?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMy brother died of a brain tumor a few years back. He always seemed to have a cell phone planted next to his head. I've wondered in retrospect if RF in such close proximity to his brain could have caused biological damage or mutations. I've been assured there was no cause & effect here, but on the other hand there are implicit warnings on small communicating devices not to place your head close to it in the talk mode.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI firmly believe excessive cellphone usage rapes the user of common sense. Just look at the millions of morons that stop dead in their tracks while walking through a busy intersection or on the subway stairs at rush hour to check their reception.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis may very well be one of those things that isn't harmful in small doses, but becomes problematical over time. Some people are practically glued to their cell phones all day, every day. Besides the obvious "tennis elbow," there almost has to be a health issue for those people.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOf course, they could just shut up for a while. Yeah, like that's gonna happen any time soon. ;-)
Gosh. Those extraterrestial folks could just beam down a suggestion and watch us march docilely up the ramp into the space ship and go off to the outerspace equivalent of a coal mine. I doubt if they have a UMW chapter?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have to nudge myself when I read something like this:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this[i]"Croft of Swinburne emphasizes that there are no health worries from these new findings".[/i]
[b]What?[/b] [b]Sleep deprivation[/b] is a sure fire way of getting [b]unhealthy[/b].
Why are so many [b]scientists apologizing[/b] for the unforgivable [b]stupidity[/b] of the [b]wireless industry[/b]?
[i]"Dude! Let's mass-market a radiation-emitting device that people hold up to their brains.. and do zero pre-market testing"[/i]...(applause)
--
Edited by stanton at 05/08/2008 12:57 PM
Makes you wonder the effect that talking on a cell phone has on the brain while the person is driving.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDoug Fields, the author of this article, is currently out of the country, but he wanted to add these extra tidbits, which expand on his article:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Dr. Croft suspects that cell phone transmissions perturb electrical function in the brain operating at frequencies resonant with the 217 Hz pulsed microwave transmissions of the cell phone, rather than modulating the slow alpha waves directly. The increased alpha wave activity, he believes, is the brain's response to cope with the electrical interference, and this might differ in different individuals.
Some people report hypersensitivity to cell phone signals, complaining, for example, of suffering splitting headaches within minutes of cell phone use, but when tested in the laboratory in double blind studies, no effects can be seen. However, Dr. Croft is investigating how cell phone radiation might affect people with different types of attentional or anxiety disorders, that involve brain circuits that contribute to alpha waves."
Excellent article!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDr. J. Semo
www.wenatex.com.au
Interesting! But if you take the other meaning of the caption, it will be more interesting. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have used a monkey's brain activity to control a robot on the other side of the globe. A cell phone, having a WiFi, may be used to that purpose. Mind Control over telephone!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIs no one else worried that the observed EEG differences are caused by the EEG signals being contaminated by the electromagnetic interference from the phone itself? Electroencephalography measures really small electrical fields, and all electronics give off all kinds of electrical fields at a variety of frequencies. The cited paper gives no strong counter to these concerns (other than some weak statements about the 26th GSM frame, which don't seem to quell the issue at all).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt also doesn't help that this is published in a not-particularly-well-known-or-respected journal whose sole agenda seems to be showing that electromagnetic fields cause SOME effect on living organisms. I'd be extremely suspicious of reports like this until they manage to pass peer review at a "normal" journal
Very interesting, yet a bit puzzling. The first study found that alpha waves were heightened. The second study found that delta waves were dampened. The first study used Nokia 6110 cell phones strapped to the subjects' heads. The second study used Nokia 6310e cell phones strapped to the subjects' heads. The subjects in both studies also had eeg electrodes attached to their skulls. Why the different findings? Also, how could these phones be switched to "talk" mode without the subjects' knowledge? What exactly was transmitted during this "talk" mode and who controlled the frequency transmissions? Nokia? or the scientists running the studies?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisElectromagnetic Weapons / Neurological Weapons / .pdf Links
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisElectronic Harassment
Microwave Harassment
Radio Waves as Weapons
Microwave Harassment and Mind Control Experimentation / Julianne McKinney
http://www.xs4all.nl/~sm4csi/nwo/MindControl/Microwave.Harassment.And.Mind-Control.Experimentation.htm
Security Limits / Compromising Emanations / Markus G. Kuhn / University of Cambridge
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/ches2005-limits.pdf
Bio Effects / Non Lethal Weapons / U.S. Army / Donald Friedman
http://www.freedomfchs.com/usarmyrptonmicrowavefx.pdf
Darpa On Your Mind / Jonathan D. Moreno
http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1029&context=neuroethics_pubs
Sonoma University / Peter Philips / Lew Brown / Bridget Thorton
http://www.projectcensored.org/articles/story/us-intelligence-community-human-rights-violations/
Royal Military College / Canada / Major G.J. Burton / Major G.P Ohlke
http://www.rmc.ca/academic/gradrech/millimeter-e.pdf
The Militarization Of Neuroscience / Hugh Gusterson
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=GUS20070420&articleId=5445
Electronic Harassment Effects / Eleanor White
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/archivos_pdf/electronic_harassment.pdf
Neurology And Mind Control / Terilyn Lee Johnson
http://www.bethel.edu/~kisrob/hon301k/project/Final/mind_control.htm
The Challenge Of Exotic Weapons / Canada / Cris McHale
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/arms/isrop/research/mchale_2003_exotic_weapons/challenge_%20exotic_weapons_mchale.pdf
State Sponsored Terrorism / Mark M. Rich
http://www.gangstalkingworld.com/Handbook/TheHiddenEvil.pdf
The Code Of The Brain / Cheryl Welsh
http://www.mindjustice.org/book.pdf
Gerry Duffett
Toronto / Ontario / Canada
duffett52@yahoo.com
gerryduffett@fastmail.ca
http://gerryduffett.proboards54.com/index.cgi?board=general
http://www.goliathboards.com/users5/gerryduffett/index.cgi
I've been researching EMF's for the past past year.There is so much research supporting the huge dangers.This is just another government propaganda minimizing the dangers posed by big business.Doesn't it sound like the FDA saying how safe the drugs are that Big Pharma is shoving down our throats?Google it and see how many scientific studies PROVE how dangerous it is. A large portion of our scosiety is getting sick because of EMF's.EMF's suppress our immune system.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisExcellent.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe important think for me, that comes from the article, is not what happens with mobile phones, but the information that there exist brainwaves.
I had this opinion, many years now, but i have not studied something related, and I do not know, how the brain works.
I have degrees in Physics and Communications Enginneering, and so it is not related to that.
But I am sure, more than than twenty years before, that I have the ability to understand, what the others people think in their brains, even in the case, the do not say anything to me.
The only exlpenation I give to this fact, is that there some waves, transversing, from the brain of other people to my brain, that i can understand. Its crazy, but i am quite sure.
Sorry, I've been at a scientific conference in Italy and out of email contact, but I would like to reply to some of the interesting comments:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe energy required to mutate cells into becoming cancerous is far greater than that produced by a cell phone. Further comfort is provided by epidemiological data showing no link between cell phones and cancer. If there is any risk of getting brain cancer from your cell phone, it is too weak to measure. Considering all the known things that definitely do cause cancer, (smoking, sunburn, chemicals in cleaning products), that people accept readily, it is odd to worry about radiation from phones. I guess it is the fear of the unknown: every one is familiar with sunburn, not many understand radiation.
As a member of the editorial board of the journal, I must respectfully disagree with vadeskoc's characterization of the scientific journal, Neuroscience Letters. In addition to evaluating reviewer comments on manuscripts and making recommendations on publication as an editor, I have published three papers there myself in the last 25 years. NSL is a well recognized and peer reviewed international journal serving the need to publish rapidly, short, high-quality papers of interest to the broad community of neuroscientists.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRegarding the journal Bioelectromagnetics, I am less familiar with it, but I would point out that there are many "specialist" journals, like Bioelectromagnetics, that focus on specific areas of science or emerging new areas of science that are not yet recognized by broader journals. The work in these journals is often more likely to be scrutinized by those with special knowledge in the field, and therefore to have technical and scientific rigor. Often specialist journals is where new and exciting results first appear. The allegation that this journal has an agenda is not supported by examining the papers that are published there; I note that it includes papers supporting biological effects of EMF radiation and studies questioning the reported effects. Look to the data.
Finally, both of these papers have a substantial reference list to other published studies on this subject showing effects of cell phones on EEG and behavior. These studies are published in a wide variety of journals from many different labs around the world.
The studies did consider and control for the possibility of the phone interfering with the EEG recording equipment.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRegarding the small sample size in the sleep study: Yes it is small, but the results are statistically significant, meaning that the effects are too large to be attributed to chance differences. By the nature of sleep experiments, it is difficult to obtain large sample sizes. The investigators are continuing the research and the size of the sample will increase with time. Moreover, in sharing their findings in this publication, other scientists will no doubt try to test the conclusions. Science is a process, not an endpoint.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI understand that it is confusing to compare the two studies, but findings of the two studies are not contradictory. Alpha waves increase when one tunes out the external world. Dr. Horne told me that the increased alpha power in Dr. Croft's study probably reflects the mind spinning internal thoughts as they remain awake. The reduced delta waves simply means they are not able to fall asleep.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRegarding how the phones were controlled. They were controlled by the scientist's computers. Switching between the various cell phone modes changes the frequency of pulsed microwave transmissions from the phone. The pulsed modulation is 2, 8, and 217 Hz in "talk", "listen", and "standby" modes.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs editor of the Bioelectromagnetics journal, I write to clarify vadeskoc's unfortunate misreading of the Croft et al. paper, published in volume 29(1).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe potential for electromagnetic interference in EEG recordings is well known to researchers in bioelectromagnetics. The protocol was scrutinized by referees with special knowledge in the field; the issue was controlled for and properly reported in this paper.
Also, I respectively differ with vadeskoc's characterization of the Bioelectromagnetics journal. It is a well-recognized, peer-reviewed, and internationally circulated scientific journal that specializes in reporting original data on biological effects and biomedical applications of electromagnetic fields that range in frequency from zero hertz (static fields) to terahertz radiations. Its sole agenda is to publish high-quality papers reporting studies that are conducted with scientific and technical rigor. The papers that are published in its pages include positive and negative biological responses as well as beneficial medical applications.
--
Edited by James Lin at 05/13/2008 3:05 PM
I wonder, what would be the mechanism in a brain that transforms UHF/microwave excitation signals to ELF brain waves? Furthermore, if these observations from the article are correctly interpreted, would it mean that the brain can also somehow receive information through microwaves? Or, even, can it also be a radiator for such waves accordingly? Nonetheless, if there exists the influence of these HF fields to LF brain activity it deserves to be examined in detail from both the electromagnetic compatibility sake and scientific research.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe complexity of the brain is mind-boggling!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe complexity of the body it controls is mind-boggling!
The complexity of the cell in your mothers body that created it all is mind-boggling!
The concept of how all this is possible is unknown!
However there are electromagnetic forces at work in this process because life is composed of atoms which are electromagnetically connected.
Atoms are 99.999% empty space.
Matter is waves of energy.
It's taken billions of years for life to evolve under the natural electromagnetic forces from the sun,the cosmos and the earth.
The last one hundred years of the efforts of the human species to use electromagnetic forces to its benifit is creating its own demise.
Slowly but surely we will modify living matter with this unnatural intrusion of noise into the natural spectrum we were designed for!
The higher the frequency the greater the energy content.
The electronic digital square wave creates electromagnetic pulses with very high frequency harmonic content.
Cellphones,wireless this and that are all intrusions into the natural state of being.
They interact with each other via resonaces,interference,addition,subtraction,beats,intermodulation
,etc.
Our minds and bodies are now randomly being modified continually beyond our mental control from this "storm".
Regarding the question about how high frequency microwaves can affect low frequency brain waves, the cell phones modulate the microwaves in pulses at lower frequency. The frequency of these pulses is in the same time domain as electrical activity in neural circuits. This is the basis of the interference. The changes in alpha waves probably reflect the brain coping with the additional noise. Thanks for asking this question.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Croft of Swinburne emphasizes that there are no health worries from these new findings": this is not scientific as we have too few data.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs someone who suffers from severe electromagnetic hypersensitivity, I would not rest too soundly on their reassurances that cell phones are safe and without side effects.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey should have measured melatonin levels. Melatonin regulates sleep, and sleep is required for proper immune function (including cancer prevention), bodily repair, and regeneration of damaged tissue.
Cell phones are the largest biological experiment ever performed on humans and life on planet earth.
Please read the Bioinitiative Report.
Electrical Sensitivity & Hypersensitivity:
http://www.ei-resource.org/illness-information/related-conditions/electrical-sensitivity-&-hypersensitivity/
Bioinitiative Report:
http://www.bioinitiative.org/report/index.htm
You might be interested in Dr. Lai's research and some of these other articles. Wireless technology is NOT safe.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNeurological Effects of Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Radiation Relating to Wireless Communication Technology - Dr. Henry Lai
Blood-Brain Barrier, Cellular Morphology of the Brain, Neural Electrophysiology, Changes in Neurotransmitter Functions, Metabolic Changes in Neural Tissues, Cytogenetic Effects:
http://www.emrnetwork.org/research/laibrussels.pdf
Neurological Effects of Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Radiation - Dr. Henry Lai
http://www.emrnetwork.org/research/laivienna.pdf
Memory and Behavior - Dr. Henry Lai
http://www.emrnetwork.org/research/laiwho.pdf
Mystery in the Skin:
http://www.feb.se/ARTICLES/OlleJ.html
Allergic Reactions Enhanced by Cell Phone Use:
http://bastyrcenter.org/content/view/313/
Mobile Phone More Dangerous Than Smoking:
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/mobile-phones-more-dangerous-than-smoking-or-asbestos-802602.html?r=RSS
Cordless Phones and Malignant Brain Tumors:
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/cordlessPhonesBrainTumours.php
Attitudes to the Health Dangers of Non-Thermal EMFs:
http://www.powerwatch.org.uk/news/20080117_bevington_emfs.pdf
The Ecologist - The Gathering Brainstorm - Wi-Fi
http://www.avaate.org/article.php3?id_article=1216
It is quite outrageous that researchers like Croft can say there are "no health worries" from their findings, and in the same breath say how "exciting" it is that you can "modulate brain function" using microwaves.
and click on his paper.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn America, Disney phones are made to appeal to little children to hold up to their heads. It is an insanity.
When cellphones were first introduced in the US, the FDA's only guideline for such apparatus said it should be held one inch from the body. Swedish company Ericsson put in a submission to the FDA, saying "the head" is not really part of "the body", is it, so it's fine to hold these things up against your *head*. And the FDA said yes, that will be fine. And then you have researchers saying that disturbances in brainwave and sleep patterns are "exciting".
Look at Prof Michael Kundi's "precautionary" approach to research, in which it is designed be proactive in finding problems. See
If Mr Fields wants to know how far this has really gone, then he needs to get a copy of these book from his library:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Controlling the Human Mind : The Technologies of Political Control or Tools for Peak Performance" by Dr. Nick Begich; ISBN 1-890693-54-5
For full disclosure Dr. Begich sent me free review copy.
Dr. Begich goes into depth on the Frequency Following Response of the Brain, see Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainwave_synchronization, among may other related areas.
Louis Slesin's http://www.microwavenews.com/ keeps up on the day to day happenings of this field. For example, June 3 "Chronic exposure to 3G (UMTS) cell phone radiation can promote the growth of tumors, according to a new animal study presented at a workshop in Berlin last week."
Regrettably the pioneer in this filed Dr Robert Becker died on May 14.
Louis Slesin wrote "Becker wrote the book *The Body Electric* with Gary Selden. Published in 1985, the book became a classic and is still in print today. Anyone trying to understand the forces at work in this highly politicized area of science should read his "Postscript: Political Science."
Becker documented how lower energy levels could cause effects that higher energies of the same frequency did not cause. So saying that the "signals are low" may actually mean that the biological effects are *worse*.
Does anyone happen to know how much time Senator Kennedy spent on his cell phone (I have no idea, and really do want to know)? Cell Phone caused Brain Tumor perhaps?
thanks i needed this info for a science lesson
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisim sure the cia doesnt know about it ...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswake up sheep for the New World Order
Im sure the CIA doesnt know about it...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWake up sheeple
Welcome to the New World Order
The science fiction spinoffs from this research are fascinating to imagine, but it is perhaps worth emphasizing the scientific interest driving these studies is in understanding how the brain works as a complex system of multiple interconnected electrical components. Subtle stimuli can alter the synchrony of populations of neurons firing in the brain, as reflected in brain waves, and these changes have cognitive and behavioral consequences. This is important in expanding our understanding of brain function beyond the narrow perspective of changes in individual synapses connecting neurons into circuits. This higher-order interaction is not-well understood and difficult to study.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm a Realtor that has used a cell phone heavily since 1997. I have always used my right hand and right ear for the phone. On the 27th of May this year I had a stroke that wiped out my hearing in that ear within hours. My phone, LG, clicks constantly a week to a week and a half prior to the billing cycle. Then the clicking stops until the next cycle. The only people who have these strokes are people who are drug abusers (I am not) or have been exposed to radiation. To the best of my knowledge I have not been exposed to radiation, but it does make you pause and wonder about the cell phone usages, using only that ear, and the phone I've used for over 18 months (2000-2800 minutes each month).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOn the iPhone 3G Accessories selling websites you can choose for iPhone 3G accessories like its Chargers, FM Transmitters, Cases Skins & Fabric and lots more to explore. All these iPhone accessories come in a great variety as well as in high quality which cannot be compared to accessories bought from the markets. These websites are always full in stocks which would meet your each and every needs. Apart from the above mentioned accessories, you can also shop for iPhone car accessories which means you can buy all the needed accessories for your iphone 3G so that you can enjoy it while driving your car. Hence, we have seen how easy it is to shop for its accessories from Fommy.co.in.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOn the iPhone 3G Accessories selling websites you can choose for iPhone 3G accessories like its Chargers, FM Transmitters, Cases Skins & Fabric and lots more to explore. All these iPhone accessories come in a great variety as well as in high quality which cannot be compared to accessories bought from the markets. These websites are always full in stocks which would meet your each and every needs. Apart from the above mentioned accessories, you can also shop for iPhone car accessories which means you can buy all the needed accessories for your iphone 3G so that you can enjoy it while driving your car. Hence, we have seen how easy it is to shop for its accessories from Fommy.co.in.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBefore you know it,we will all controlled to some extent by wave lengths ,and we wont even realise it!! just pawns in chess game.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWorry about microwave lasers, the ones in the spectrum window at about 840GHz, as they are space based. The DOD uses them for com, but they can also be used as a directed energy weapon. With these it is now (right now) possible to torture and inflict pain to people on the ground. Ask the astronomer if they see these beams, some inside of the USA. I was loaned one for a project, and I am truly frightened at our new Manhattan project, so Un-American. Who is going to trust us after this? What are the effects on the poor of this world whom we wish to control as our slaves. You are not free as long as this is up there, I swear on my life this is true, may GOD strike me down if I am telling a lie.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisComing to a mind near you soon.
I'm no brain scientist, but what seems ridiculous about this study is that it does not consider the increase in alpha waves directly below the phone as a result of the brain's allocation of mental resources to process all the circuitry that accompanies the ear and the ear's ability to hear and process information. Like any natural phenomena that requires a shift in structure, whether it's biochemical or in the wisdom of crowds, ground swell doesn't happen instantaneously. It's temporal in nature. Put this one on the trash heap.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThat is, "....a shift in structure to work."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is very important and informative article about disadvantages of mobile phone on our health. I am very pleased to read this article because I found lot of information and facts about cell phone. This is true that the mobile signal disturb a lot to electrical equipments and I am agreed that these signal can also make bad effects on our brains also. So we have to reduce the usage of cell phone.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this