Radiofrequency Radiation Effects on Cognitive

Functions

SMJ MortazaviProf. of Medical Physics

Shiraz University of Medical Sciencesmmortazavi@sums.ac.ir 1

EMF Ocean!We live in an ocean of ionizing and nonionizing radiation

Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D 2

EMF-related Subjective Symptoms• Some cell phone users report symptoms such as headache, dizziness, tinnitus, insomnia, attention and concentration problems, myalgia, fatigue and palpitation after talking too long.

Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D 3

Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D 4

Mortazavi et al. Bioelectromagnetics, 2007• No significantly higher prevalence of self-reported symptoms was found in individuals who had used mobile phones, video display terminals or cordless phones more frequently than others.

• Mass-media’s lack of interest in the possible hazards of exposure to EMF in developing countries can explain the difference observed between the results of this study and those of other researchers in some developed countries who have shown an association between EMF exposure and the prevalence of self-reported subjective symptoms.

• This finding can confirm the results obtained in provocative studies which indicated the role of psychological factors in electromagnetic hypersensitivity.

Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D 5

Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D

6

Mortazavi et al. Technology and Health Care, 2011•No statistically significant changes between the means of the biological parameters such as heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure in real/sham exposure were observed.

•Our findings clearly confirm the results obtained in other provocative studies.

•These data also indicate the possible role of psychological factors in electromagnetic hypersensitivity.

Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D

7

The Other Side of The Coin!

Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D

8

Cognitive Beneficial Effects

Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D

9

SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D & SAR

Mortazavi

Radiofrequency Radiation –Induced Cognitive Beneficial Effects•On the other hand, the potential beneficial effects of (RF) radiation are not only limited to the induction of adaptive phenomena. Previously, we have indicated that the visual reaction time (VRT) of university students was significantly affected by a 10 min exposure to electromagnetic fields emitted by a mobile phone (7).

•

SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D & SAR

Mortazavi

SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D & SAR

Mortazavi

SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D & SAR

MortazaviMortazavi et al. Acta Neurol Belg, 2012

Radiofrequency Radiation –Induced Cognitive Beneficial Effects•Furthermore, we have shown that occupational exposures to radar radiations decreased reaction time in radar workers.

•Altogether our results revealed that these exposures caused decreased reaction time which might lead to a better response to different hazards and decrease the probability of human errors and fatal accidents.

SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D & SAR

Mortazavi

SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D & SAR

Mortazavi

SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D & SAR

MortazaviMortazavi et al. Iranian J Publ Health, 2013

Radiofrequency Radiation –Induced Cognitive Beneficial Effects•On the other hand, cognitive beneficial effects of long term exposure to high frequency EMF have been indicated by some studies.

•Using a word interference test, in 2007, Arns et al. showed that long term heavy cell phone use resulted in better performance of normal subjects.

SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D & SAR

Mortazavi

Radiofrequency Radiation –Induced Cognitive Beneficial Effects•Moreover, Schuz et al. in 2009 reported that long-term cell phone users (subscribers of 10 years or more) had a 30–40% decreased risk of hospitalization due to AD and vascular dementia (10).

SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D & SAR

Mortazavi

Challenging Arendash’s Report•Recently, Arendash reported that long-term transcranial electromagnetic treatment (TEMT) can prevent and reverse both cognitive impairment and brain amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition in AD transgenic mice.

•He also claimed that TEMT even improves cognitive performance in normal mice.

Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D

19

Radiofrequency Radiation –Induced Cognitive Beneficial Effects•In this light, a challenging issue will be if there are other RF-induced stimulating effects and to explore the potential applications of these effects. Further research may shed light on dark areas of the health effects of short and long-term human exposure to radiofrequency radiation.

SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D & SAR

Mortazavi

SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D & SAR

Mortazavi

Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D

25

Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D

26

Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D

27

References: 1. Sannino A, Sarti M, Reddy SB, Prihoda TJ, Vijayalaxmi, Scarfi MR. Induction of adaptive response in human blood lymphocytes exposed to

radiofrequency radiation. Radiat Res. 2009;171(6):735-42. 2. Mortazavi SMJ, Mosleh-Shirazi MA, Tavassoli AR, Taheri M, Bagheri Z, Ghalandari R, et al. A comparative study on the increased

radioresistance to lethal doses of gamma rays after exposure to microwave radiation and oral intake of flaxseed oil. Iranian Journal of Radiation Research. 2011;9(1):9-14.

3. Mortazavi SMJ, Mosleh-Shirazi MA, Tavassoli AR, Taheri M, Mehdizadeh AR, Namazi SAS, et al. Increased Radioresistance to Lethal Doses of Gamma Rays in Mice and Rats after Exposure to Microwave Radiation Emitted by a GSM Mobile Phone Simulator. Dose Response. 2013;11 (2):281-92.

4. Mortazavi SMJ, Motamedifar M, Namdari G, Taheri M, Mortazavi AR, Shokrpour N. Non-Linear Adaptive Phenomena which Decrease the Risk of infection after Pre-Exposure to Radiofrequency Radiation. Dose-Response. in press.

5. Mortazavi SMJ, Motamedifar M, Namdari G, Taheri M, Mortazavi AR. Counterbalancing immunosuppression-induced infections during long-term stay of humans in space. Journal of Medical Hypotheses and Ideas. 2013;7(1):8-10.

6. Mortazavi SMJ, Mozdarani H. Deep space missions and the issue of overcoming the problem of space radiation. International Journal of Radiation Research. 2013;11(3):199-202.

7. Mortazavi SMJ, Rouintan MS, Taeb S, Dehghan N, Ghaffarpanah AA, Sadeghi Z, et al. Human short-term exposure to electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones decreases computer-assisted visual reaction time. Acta Neurologica Belgica. 2012;112(2):171-5.

8. Mortazavi SMJ, Taeb S, Dehghan N. Alterations of Visual Reaction Time and Short Term Memory in Military Radar Personnel. Iranian J Publ Health. 2013;42(4):428-35.

9. Arns M, Van Luijtelaar G, Sumich A, Hamilton R, Gordon E. Electroencephalographic, personality, and executive function measures associated with frequent mobile phone use. Int J Neurosci. 2007;117(9):1341-60.

10. Schuz J, Waldemar G, Olsen JH, Johansen C. Risks for central nervous system diseases among mobile phone subscribers: a Danish retrospective cohort study. PLoS One. 2009;4(2):e4389.

11. Arendash GW.Transcranial electromagnetic treatment against Alzheimer's disease: why it has the potential to trump Alzheimer's disease drug development.J Alzheimers Dis. 2012;32(2):243-66. doi: 10.3233/JAD-2012-120943.

12 .Arendash GW, Mori T, Dorsey M, Gonzalez R, Tajiri N, Borlongan C.Electromagnetic treatment to old Alzheimer's mice reverses β-amyloid deposition, modifies cerebral blood flow, and provides selected cognitive benefit.PLoS One. 2012;7(4):e35751.

13. Mortazavi SA, Tavakkoli-Golpayegani A, Haghani M, Mortazavi SM. Looking at the other side of the coin: the search for possible biopositive cognitive effects of the exposure to 900 MHz GSM mobile phone radiofrequency radiation. Journal of environmental health science & engineering. 2014;12:75.

14. Movvahedi MM, Tavakkoli-Golpayegani A, Mortazavi SAR, Haghani M, Razi Z, Shojaie-fard MB, et al. Does exposure to GSM 900 MHz mobile phone radiation affect short-term memory of elementary school students?. J Pediatr Neurosci 2014;9:121-4.

SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D & SAR

Mortazavi

Thank you

Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D 29