New Study: Cell Phone Use Can Impact Brain Activity
Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011 - VOA
Scientists say using a cell phone for prolonged periods can change your brain activity — but they still do not know whether those changes are harmful.
In a new study released Tuesday, scientists at the National Institutes of Health used brain scans to see what happened when someone listened to the phone for at least 50 minutes. They compared those images to brain scans of the same people holding a phone next to their ear without turning it on.
They found the area of the brain nearest the phone antenna showed an increase in brain glucose metabolism — a measure of brain activity — when the phone was turned on. That portion of the brain used 7 percent more energy than when the phone was turned off.
Cell phones emit high frequency electromagnetic waves — a form of radiation — in order to connect to the cellular network. As noted by the editors of The Journal of the American Medical Association, where the study was published, the “dramatic increase” in cell phone use has led people to worry prolonged exposure to the radiation could be bad for people's health.
There have been some reports linking cell phone use and brain tumors, but the evidence is inconsistent.
The researchers in this study said their results were interesting, but still do not prove the radiation actually has any long-term harmful impact.
They said further study was necessary.
New Study: Cell Phone Use Can Impact Brain Activity
Article from VOA
No comments:
Post a Comment