Are there modulated electromagnetic field effects on human conscious perception during attentional blink test?
The aim of this study was to experimentally examine the effects of low-level modulated electromagnetic fields on human central nervous system function utilizing the phenomenon of attentional blink. Twenty healthy volunteers were exposed to 450 MHz electromagnetic field (EMF) modulated with 40 Hz stimulation. During the exposure the subjects were presented rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) sequence, which consisted of 8 letters (stimuli) and two numbers (targets - T1 and T2). The task was to detect two target stimuli out of the sequence. The experiment protocol consisted of two sessions -- 100 trials each. One session was done under EMF exposure condition and another under sham condition. The attentional blink phenomenon can be described as impairment of the identification of the second of two targets if it is presented less than about 500 ms after the first. Resulting data were statistically analyzed using a two-tailed Student's t-test. The results showed that EMF had no immediate effect on attentional blink characteristics of human perception.
Lass
Jaanus
J
Biomed. Eng. Centre, Tallinn Univ. of Technol.logy, Tallinn, Estonia. jaanus@cb.ttu.ee
Rodina
Anatassia
A
Riipulk
Jevgeni
J
Hinrikus
Hiie
H
Bachmann
Talis
T
D000328:Adult; D054518:Attentional Blink / Q000502:physiology*; D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011601:Psychophysics; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*