The effect of the duration of exposure to the electromagnetic field emitted by mobile phones on human attention.

Lee TM, Lam PK, Yee LT, Chan CC.

1Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road 2Institute of Clinical Neuropyschology.

Previous findings suggested the facilitating effect of the electromagnetic field emitted by mobile phones on human attention. This study aimed to examine the relationship between the facilitating effect and the duration of exposure to the electromagnetic field emitted by mobile phones on human attention. Seventy-eight university students were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control group. Their performance in the administered attention tasks was compared. Participants in the experimental group performed better on one of the two measures of attention only after they had been exposed to the electromagnetic field emitted by the mobile phone for some time. The results seem to suggest that attention functions may be differentially enhanced after exposing to the electromagnetic field emitted by mobile phones. Furthermore, this transient facilitation effect might be dose dependent.