Effects of electromagnetic field emitted by cellular phones on the EEG during a memory task

The effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) emitted by cellular phones on the ERD/ERS of the 4–6 Hz, 6–8 Hz, 8–10 Hz and 10–12 Hz EEG frequency bands were studied in 16 normal subjects performing an auditory memory task. All subjects performed the memory task both with and without exposure to a digital 902 MHz EMF in counterbalanced order. The exposure to EMF significantly increased EEG power in the 8–10 Hz frequency band only. Nonetheless, the presence of EMF altered the ERD/ERS responses in all studied frequency bands as a function of time and memory task (encoding vs retrieval). Our results suggest that the exposure to EMF does not alter the resting EEG per se but modifies the brain responses significantly during a memory task.