February 22, 2011 6:06 p.m. EST
By Danielle Dellorto
- The study looks at how radiation from cell phones affects brain function
- Glucose metabolism is a normal function in the brain
- The impact of increased brain activity in children has yet to be studied
(CNN) — The radiation emitted after just 50
minutes on a mobile phone increases the activity in brain cells,
according to a new government-funded study.
The effects of that brain activity are not known, said the researchers, who called for more study.
Phones that were turned off did not create the same brain activity.
The
small study, published in the Journal of American Medical Association,
is the first to look specifically at how electromagnetic radiation from
cell phones affects glucose metabolism, a normal function, in the brain.
“When
glucose metabolism goes up, it activates cells. The findings are an
indication that exposure to cell phones activate the brain much more
easily than we previously thought,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, National
Institutes of Health neuroscientist and lead study author.
Brain
activity means that the cells are using glucose to create energy. The
brain normally produces the amount of glucose it needs to function
properly. But these new findings don’t tell us whether activating the
cells artificially, in this case by cell phone radiation, will have a
negative effect on health. Volkow says she simply doesn’t know and calls
for further investigation.
