Mobile Link To Memory

[savramesh 37]

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New Delhi, Jan. 7: Long-term use of cellphones appears to enhance the memory of mice and protect them from the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, according to research that some scientists have described as “astonishing”.

Scientists from the US, China and Japan who set out to investigate the possible harmful effects of electromagnetic fields from cellphones have instead discovered the first evidence for a protective effect on the brain.

They say the findings suggest that exposure to electromagnetic fields of the type generated by cellphones could boost memory effectively and may represent a possible treatment strategy against Alzheimer’s disease.

However, the researchers have cautioned that more studies are needed to establish that the effect observed on mice would apply to humans.

“This opens up a new field of science for investigation — the beneficial effects of long-term electromagnetic field exposure on memory in humans,” said Gary Arendash, a research professor at the University of South Florida and lead author of the study.

The findings appear today in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

“The (mouse) model is not perfect, but it is one of the best and most established models that we have for Alzheimer’s disease,” Arendash told The Telegraph. The model faithfully captures a key mechanism underlying the disease in humans.

The scientists exposed normal mice and genetically engineered mice, destined to develop Alzheimer’s disease symptoms, to the same frequency of electromagnetic fields the human head is exposed to during cellphone use for two one-hour periods a day for seven to nine months. The mice were then given special tests for memory that closely mimic tests for Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss in humans.

The memory-enhancing and protective effects showed up in both normal and genetically engineered mice. The normal mice with long-term exposure to the electromagnetic fields did better at tests than mice without exposure.

In old mice with Alzheimer’s disease symptoms, the exposure reduced deposits of a harmful protein called beta amyloid, implicated in the disease mechanism. In young mice, it prevented the build-up of this protein.

The researchers have called this “striking” evidence for the “protective” and “disease-reversing” effect of long-term exposure to electromagnetic fields. Arendash has described the findings as “astonishing”.

“We started with the hypothesis that cellphone exposure would be deleterious to memory functions,” Arendash said. Instead, the study revealed a protective effect that appears to occur through the action on the beta amyloid.

“The changes in the beta amyloid in the mice greatly add to the significance of these findings,” said Bindu Kutty, additional professor at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, who was not associated with the study.

“But we have to remember that Alzheimer’s disease in humans is very complex, and our existing animal models do not replicate all the pathology seen in humans.”

Arendash and his colleagues too have said that the mice in the study had received full-body electromagnetic field exposure — and not the head-only exposure that humans experience during cellphone use.

They also said that it was still unknown whether the penetration of electromagnetic fields through the skulls of mice is similar to their penetration through human skulls.

The World Health Organisation and other health agencies have examined a large number of earlier studies on cellphone exposure and concluded there is no evidence for health risks to adults or children.

However, some studies on animals have indicated that exposure to electromagnetic fields can damage organs through a process called oxidative stress.