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Updated: Sep 18, 2025

Simultaneous Electrophysiological Recording and Calcium Imaging of Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Neurons
Published on: December 8, 2013
Electromagnetic fields modulate neuronal membrane ionic currents through altered cellular calcium homeostasis
Federico Bertagna1,2, Shiraz Ahmad2, Rebecca Lewis1,2
1Leverhulme Quantum Biology Doctoral Training Centre, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
None:
The biological effects of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) on the central nervous system (CNS) have been widely reported in the literature. Their nature and extent are thought to depend on parameters such as field intensity and frequency. Of these, extremely low-frequency (50 Hz) fields have been reported to influence neuronal firing in CNS regions, including the hippocampus. We applied the loose patch clamp technique to study the effects of 1 mT exposures of such fields over the course of 60 min on cornus ammonis 1 (CA1) pyramidal neuron membranes in coronal hippocampal slices. Such exposure decreased both inward and transient outward currents. Pharmacological blockers of ryanodine receptor (RyR)-dependent Ca2+ release (dantrolene) and endoplasmic reticular Ca2+ store reuptake (SERCA; cyclopiazonic acid) both abrogated these effects. We thus implicate Ca2+ homeostasis in an EMF-induced modulation of neuronal excitability through its regulation of voltage-gated channels.
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