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Published on: April 30, 2020
Neuropsychological sequelae of digital mobile phone exposure in humans
Vanessa Keetley1, Andrew W Wood, Jo Spong
1Brain Sciences Institute, Swinburne University, P.O. Box 218, Hawthorn, Vic. 3122, Australia.
Abstract:
The effect of electromagnetic fields from digital mobile phones (DMP) on cognitive functioning is an area receiving increased attention. This study compares the performance of 120 volunteers on 8 neuropsychological tests during real or sham exposure to a DMP set to maximum permissible radiofrequency power output. When results were adjusted for known covariates (gender, age, or education), several alterations at significance levels of p<0.05 were obtained. Of these, simple and choice reaction times (CRT) showed strong evidence of impairment. Further, performance on the Trail Making Task (TMT) improved, supporting the hypothesis that DMP radiofrequency emissions improve the speed of processing of information held in working memory.
