Sensitivity of the brain to microwave radiation

Abstract

This study is focused on evaluation of sensitivity of the brain to external microwave radiation. Up to this time all requirements and limitations established by national and international regulations and recommendations for safety of electromagnetic fields (EMF) are based on the quantitative data of EMF thermal effect. Analysis of different approaches for estimation of sensitivity of the brain were applied in this study: theoretical sensitivity of living cell to microwave radiation, hypothesis of the quasithermal effect, experimental data of microwave radiation effects on the brain, special experiments to avoid thermal effect, experiments at radiation power density lower and higher than thermal limit. As a result it was shown that statistically significant changes occurred in the EEG rhythms at microwave radiation power densities about 10 dB less than thermal limit. Clear dependence of the results on modulation frequency confirmed that the effect has nonthermal origin. The intensity of the effect is not linearly related to the applied field power density. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.