ICES Database
ElectroMagnetic Field Literature
Search Engine
  

EMF Study
(Database last updated on Mar 27, 2024)

ID Number 1434
Study Type Human / Provocation
Model ELF exposure to hypersensitive individuals and analysis of hypersensitivity, perception, effects on motor skills, and tinnitus
Details

Volunteers (n = 23; self-identified hypersensitive) were exposed to ELF from a transcranial magnetic stimulating device (figure 8 coil on the head region) and analysed for perception as well as subjective and physiological endpoints. TMS exposure did not affect resting or active motor thresholds, but when the interval between TMS pulses was increased from 4 or 10 msec to 15 msec, there was a decrease in intercortical facilitation, suggesting an increase in neuroplasticity. In a prior study on ELF, self-identified electro-sensitive subjects (n = 30) recieving TMS pulses over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and compared were not as efficient in detecting acoustic clicks from TMS when compared to sham exposed subjects (with a high false positive rate), although they did not differ significantly in motor evoked potential responses (measured from surface electrodes at the right abductor digiti minimi muscle in the small finger with the finger at rest). In a recent study (2008), the authors recruited electro-sensitive individuals from a newspaper advertisement. The volunteers were exposed to TMS and evaluated for perception of the magnetic field, cortical excitability, and cognitive performance as well as history of sleep quality, medical history, depression, and psychological state. The authors report hypersensitive individuals were more likely to report sick days and poor health, but showed diminished ability to discriminate when the TMS was on vs controls. They also report small statistical differences suggesting hypersensitive individuals may be slightly more irritable or have a dysfunctional cortical process leading to reduced adaption. In a similar study, the authors evaluated self-reported hypersensitive individuals (n = 69) and controls for tinnitus via questionnaire. The authors reported a significant increase in reported events of tinnitus in the hypersensitive group.

Findings Effects
Status Completed With Publication
Principal Investigator Psychiatric University Hospital in Regensburg, Ger
Funding Agency BfS, Germany, DMF, Germany
Country GERMANY
References
  • Landgrebe, M et al. PLoS ONE, (2009) 4:e5026-
  • Landgrebe, M et al. Psychol Med, (2008) 38:1781-1791
  • Landgrebe, M et al. J Psychosom Res, (2007) 62:283-288
  • Frick, U et al. Bioelectromagnetics, (2005) 26:287-298
  • Frick, U et al. International journal of hygiene and environmental health., (2002) 205:353-360
  • Comments

    Return