Abstract

Healthy sleep supports robust development of the brain and behavior. Modern society presents a host of challenges that can impair and disrupt critical circadian rhythms that reinforce optimal physiological functioning, including the proper timing and consolidation of sleep. While the acute effects of inadequate sleep and disrupted circadian rhythms are being defined, the adverse developmental consequences of disrupted sleep and circadian rhythms are understudied. Here, we exposed mice to disrupting light–dark cycles from birth until weaning and demonstrate that such exposure has adverse impacts on brain and behavior as adults. Mice that experience early-life circadian disruption exhibit more anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze, poorer spatial memory in the Morris Water Maze, and impaired working memory in a delayed match-to-sample task. Additionally, neuron morphology in the amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex is adversely impacted. Pyramidal cells in these areas had smaller dendritic fields, and pyramidal cells in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus also exhibited diminished branching orders. Disrupted mice were also hyperactive as adults, but otherwise exhibited no alteration in adult circadian locomotor rhythms. These results highlight that circadian disruption early in life may have long lasting and far-reaching consequences for the development of behavior and the brain.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35513413/

The post Early life circadian rhythm disruption in mice alters brain and behavior in adulthood appeared first on EMFSA.

With the rapid development of electronic information in the past 30 years, technical achievements based on electromagnetism have been widely used in various fields pertaining to human production and life. Consequently, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) has become a substantial new pollution source in modern civilization. The biological effects of EMR have attracted considerable attention worldwide. The possible interaction of EMR with human organs, especially the brain, is currently where the most attention is focused. Many studies have shown that the nervous system is an important target organ system sensitive to EMR. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have focused on the neurobiological effects of EMR, including the metabolism and transport of neurotransmitters. As messengers of synaptic transmission, neurotransmitters play critical roles in cognitive and emotional behavior. Here, the effects of EMR on the metabolism and receptors of neurotransmitters in the brain are summarized.

Extract only, for the full study see https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.691880/full

Conclusion

In summary, research on the synthesis, metabolism and transport of neurotransmitters in the brain by EMR is increasing gradually, but due to the different parameters of EMR, experimental objects and conditions, the experimental results are not very consistent and comparative. Therefore, the effects of EMR on the metabolism and transport of neurotransmitters have not been clarified. Moreover, the role of neurotransmitters and their mechanism in the neurobehavioral dysfunction induced by EMR have not been revealed. Further detailed studies are needed. On the other hand, because of the complex diversity of neurotransmitters in the brain, the interaction, cotransmission and coregulation of neurotransmitters make it difficult to distinguish the primary and secondary changes of each neurotransmitter. Furthermore, the interaction of different neural nuclei in the brain constitutes sophisticated neural circuits, which is the fundamental basis of how the brain performs functions. Consequently, the regulation of neural circuits may be involved in the neurotransmitter disorder of the brain induced by EMR.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.691880/full

The post Effects of Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Radiation on Neurotransmitters in the Brain appeared first on EMFSA.

Abstract

Background: Prenatal adverse effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) exposure on nervous system are an issue of major concern.

Objective: Thus, in this study we evaluated the membrane current flow properties of Purkinje neurons after maternal exposure to 900 MHz pulsed RF-EMF.

Material and methods: In this experimental study, during all days of pregnancy, rats in the EMF-exposed group were exposed to 900 MHz pulsed-EMF radiation for 6 h per day. The effects of RF-EMF exposure on the electrophysiological properties of the Purkinje cerebellum neurons from male pups were evaluated by whole-cell patch clamp recordings in current and voltage clamp modes. In voltage-clamp experiments, the holding potential was -60mV, and a depolarizing voltage step (1000 ms duration) was applied from -60 to +50 mV in 10 mV increments at 2s intervals.

Results: The exposure group demonstrated reduced spontaneous firing associated with upward and rightward shift in I/V curve compared to the control rats. Moreover, the peak amplitude of the current for the exposure pups also revealed a significant decrement. The reversal potential was +40 mV and +20 mV for the control and RF-EMF groups, respectively and showed significant differences between the two groups.

Conclusion: The decrease in ion’s conductance could be attributed to the observed decrease in the voltage onset of the inward current, peak amplitude and voltage shift.

Copyright: © Journal of Biomedical Physics and Engineering.

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The electromagnetic field (EMF) is known to influence functions of the nervous, cardiovascular and reproductive systems of many animals, including ticks. The aim of this study was to test the behavior of ticks in the presence of radio-frequency EMF. For testing, 160 adult male and 140 adult female unfed Ixodes ricinus ticks were used. Individuals were exposed to 900 MHz EMF in the Radiation–Shielded Tube (RST). Ticks were attracted to the irradiated area. This effect was significantly stronger for ticks infected with Rickettsia spp., suggesting that pathogens can alter the ticks’ response to environmental stimuli. These results lead to the question of whether man-made EMF may have an impact on I. ricinus activity and, as such, be a contributing factor to the ongoing changes in the distribution of the tick and its pathogens currently observed in Europe and elsewhere.

© 2020 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1877959X19301979

Further reading

Smartphone Radiation Can Attract Ticks Carrying Dangerous Pathogens

Extract-for the full article, please see http://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/node/81997

Climate change and landscape transformation are primarily responsible for increasing tick numbers. However, according to the Poznań University of Life Sciences, the latest research by the Polish-Slovak team shows that electromagnetic radiation (EMF), more and more common in the environment, the sources of which include radio and television stations, mobile telephony and numerous mobile devices, may also be responsible for expanding the range of ticks.

Recent scientific studies have proven that the electromagnetic field also affects ticks, attracting them like a magnet. Interestingly, infection with dangerous bacteria makes EMF even more attractive to ticks. Research results on this topic have just been published in the specialist journal Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases. The first author of the paper is Martyna Frątczak, a veterinary medicine student of the Poznań University of Life Sciences. Eight people from six scientific institutions were involved in its creation (the Poznań University of Life Sciences, the University of Szczecin and the University of Zielona Góra, the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, the Technical University of Košice and the University of Veterinary Medicine in Košice).

Professor Piotr Tryjanowski from the Poznań University of Life Sciences said: “The studied issue is extremely interdisciplinary, hence the need for cooperation of representatives of many disciplines: veterinarians, parasitologists, electrical engineers and finally biologists specialising in advanced statistics.”

The authors of the study checked how EMF affected the behaviour of the castor bean tick Ixodes ricinus, known primarily for the transmission of Lyme disease (caused by bacteria of the genus Borrelia) as well as rickettsiosis (caused by bacteria of the genus Rickettsia) and tick-borne encephalitis (caused by viruses). The analysis showed that ticks were attracted by 900 MHz radiation. This radiation length is used in most mobile devices, including smartphones.

Even more surprisingly, ticks infected with bacteria of the Borrelia and Rickettsia species are more likely to move towards EMF.

Why do ticks react to electromagnetic radiation? It is probably related to their magnetic sense, the sixth sense common in the animal world, which has evolved in response to the Earth’s geomagnetic field. Artificial electromagnetic radiation can disrupt this sense and increase tick mobility. In addition, it is suspected that natural electromagnetic radiation, small amounts of which are generated produced by every living organism, helps ticks detect hosts, scientists suggest. It is not known, however, to what extent this could be a useful function, because ticks rely mainly on the olfactory information when selecting the host, also detecting moisture, heat and carbon dioxide of the incoming potential host.

The authors of the study admit that the next puzzle is the impact of bacteria carried by ticks on the reaction to electromagnetic radiation. “At first it may seem absurd, but it is worth noting that ticks have been co-evolving with their pathogens for thousands of years. Many tick pathogens can manipulate their hosts, changing their metabolism, fertility, and even affect environmental preferences. So apparently some of them affect tick response to electromagnetic stimuli, making them move towards those stimuli even more willingly than usual,” the scientists said.

They added: “This is certainly bad news for people who do not part with their phones even in nature. But good news for those who say that for a complete rest it is best to leave the phone at home or in the car, and enjoy the sound of trees and singing birds in the forest instead of the sound of incoming messages.”

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A selection of slides from Dr Belpoggi’s presentation:

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