title: No effects of mobile phone use on cortical auditory change-detection in children: an ERP study.
abstract: We investigated the effect of mobile phone use on the auditory sensory memory in children. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs), P1, N2, mismatch negativity (MMN), and P3a, were recorded from 17 children, aged 11-12 years, in the recently developed multi-feature paradigm. This paradigm allows one to determine the neural change-detection profile consisting of several different types of acoustic changes. During the recording, an ordinary GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) mobile phone emitting 902 MHz (pulsed at 217 Hz) electromagnetic field (EMF) was placed on the ear, over the left or right temporal area (SAR(1g) = 1.14 W/kg, SAR(10g) = 0.82 W/kg, peak value = 1.21 W/kg). The EMF was either on or off in a single-blind manner. We found that a short exposure (two 6 min blocks for each side) to mobile phone EMF has no statistically significant effects on the neural change-detection profile measured with the MMN. Furthermore, the multi-feature paradigm was shown to be well suited for studies of perception accuracy and sensory memory in children. However, it should be noted that the present study only had sufficient statistical power to detect a large effect size.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Turku, Assistentinkatu 7, Turku, Finland. mskwon@utu.fi
authors.forename: Myoung Soo
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Minna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huotilainen
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shestakova
authors.forename: Teija
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kujala
authors.forename: Risto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Näätänen
authors.forename: Heikki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hämäläinen
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D040421:Cell Phone; D002648:Child; D004423:Ear; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013701:Temporal Bone; D013997:Time Factors