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Digital 902 MHz Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Field Emitted by Mobile Phones: Effects on Cognitive and Brain Functions

In 1999 CCN started research on the immediate effects of mobile phone exposure on cognitive functions, electroencephalogram (EEG), and subjective symptoms in humans. Those pilot studies have produced 5 published reports ^1-5. The second project started in 2000, and finished in October 2003. The project started with an attempt to replicate the results of the pilot studies, and then to expand the research by including other subject groups (children) and methods (positron emission tomography, PET).The results of these have either been published ^6-9, or are being prepaired. The latest project (2002-2004) continues using the same methodologies (not PET) but with added mobile phone characteristics (continuous wave vs. pulsed wave exposure).

Researchers

Christian Haarala, MPsych, Principal Investigator, PhD student

Heikki Hämäläinen, PhD, Professor, Director of the Project
Matti Laine, PhD, Professor
Mika Koivisto, PhD, Senior Scientist
Christina Krause, PhD, Senior Scientist
Antti Revonsuo, PhD, Senior Scientist
Maria Ek, MSc, Researcher
Lauri Sillanmäki, Statistician
Kati Alanko, Research Assistant
Linda Björnberg, Research Assistant
Annika Hultén, Research Assistant
Monica Bergman, Research Assistant

Funding

The pilot studies were financed by Nokia Research Centre. The funding for the second project came 70% from the National Technology Agency (Tekes), and 30% from industry. The latest project is funded by Forschungsgemeinschaft Funk e.V. (http://www.fgf.de).

Contact

Christian Haarala
Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience
University of Turku
20014 Turku, Finland
Tel +358 2 333 8782, fax +358 2 333 8770
E-mail: christian.haarala@utu.fi

References

1. Koivisto, M., Revonsuo, A., Krause, C., Haarala, C., Sillanmäki, L., Laine, M. & Hämäläinen, H. (2000). Effects of 902 MHz electromagnetic field emitted by cellular telephones on response times in humans. NeuroReport, 11(2), 413 - 415.

2. Krause, C., Sillanmäki, L., Koivisto, M., Häggqvist, A., Saarela, C., Revonsuo, A., Laine, M. & Hämäläinen, H. (2000). Effects of 902 MHz electromagnetic field emitted by cellular telephones on response times in humans. NeuroReport, 11(4), 761 - 764.

3. Koivisto, M., Krause, C., Revonsuo, A., Laine, M. & Hämäläinen, H. (2000). The effects of electromagnetic field emitted by GSM phones on working memory. NeuroReport, 11(8), 1641 - 1643.

4. Krause, C.M., Sillanmäki, L., Koivisto, M., Häggqvist, A., Saarela, C., Revonsuo, A., Laine, M. & Hämäläinen, M. (2000). Effects of electromagnetic fields emitted by cellular phones on the electroencephalogram during a visual working memory task. International Journal of Radiation Biology, 76(12), 1659 - 1667.

5. Koivisto, M., Haarala, C., Krause, C.M., Revonsuo, A., Laine, M. & Hämäläinen, H. (2001). GSM Phone Signal Does Not Produce Subjective Symptoms. Bioelectromagnetics, 22, 212 - 215.

6. Haarala, C., Björnberg, L., Ek, M., Laine, M., Revonsuo, A., Koivisto, M. & Hämäläinen, H. (2003). Effect of a 902 MHz electromagnetic field emitted by mobile phones on human cognitive function: A replication study. Bioelectromagnetics, 24, 283-288.

7. Krause, C.M., Haarala, C., Sillanmäki, L., Koivisto, M., Alanko, K., Revonsuo, A., Laine, M. & Hämäläinen, H. (In press). Effects of Electromagnetic Field Emitted by Cellular Phones on the EEG during an Auditory Memory Task: A double Blind Replication Study. Bioelectromagnetics.

8. Haarala, C., Aalto, S., Hautzel, H., Julkunen, L., Rinne, J.O., Laine, M., Krause, B. & Hämäläinen, H. (2003). Effects of a 902 MHz mobile phone on cerebral blood flow in humans: a PET study. NeuroReport, 14(16), 2019-2023.

9. Haarala, C., Ek, M., Björnberg, L., Laine, M., Revonsuo, A., Koivisto, M. & Hämäläinen, H. (In Press). 902 MHz mobile phone does not affect short term memory in humans. Bioelectromagnetics.