1The Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Tampa, FL, USA2Department of Cell Biology, Microbiology, and Molecular Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA3The Byrd Alzheimer's Institute, Tampa, FL, USA4Department of Neurology, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, FL, USA5Departments of Medical Science and Pathology, Saitama Medical Center and Saitama Medical University, Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan6Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China7Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA8Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
Despite numerous studies, there is no definitive evidence that high-frequency electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure is a risk to human health. To the contrary, this report presents the first evidence that long-term EMF exposure directly associated with cell phone use (918 MHz; 0.25 w/kg) provides cognitive benefits. Both cognitive-protective and cognitive-enhancing effects of EMF exposure were discovered for both normal mice and transgenic mice destined to develop Alzheimer's-like cognitive impairment. The cognitive interference task utilized in this study was designed from, and measure-for-measure analogous to, a human cognitive interference task. In Alzheimer's disease mice, long-term EMF exposure reduced brain amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition through Aβ anti-aggregation actions and increased brain temperature during exposure periods. Several inter-related mechanisms of EMF action are proposed, including increased Aβ clearance from the brains of Alzheimer's disease mice, increased neuronal activity, and increased cerebral blood flow. Although caution should be taken in extrapolating these mouse studies to humans, we conclude that EMF exposure may represent a non-invasive, non-pharmacologic therapeutic against Alzheimer's disease and an effective memory-enhancing approach in general.