Short-term effects of GSM mobiles phones on spectral components of the human electroencephalogram

The aim of the study was to investigate whether the GSM (global system for mobile) signals affect the electrical activity of the human brain. Nine healthy subjects and six temporal epileptic patients were exposed to radiofrequencies emitted by a GSM mobile phone signals. Electroencephalographic (EEG) signals were recorded using surface electrodes with and without radiofrequency. In order to obtain a reference, a control session was also carried out. The spectral attributes of the EEG signals recorded by surface electrodes were analyzed. The significant decrease of spectral correlation coefficients under radiofrequency influence showed that the GSM signal altered the spectral arrangement of the EEG activity for healthy subjects as well as epileptic patients. For the healthy subjects, the EEG spectral energy decreased on the studied frequency band [0-40 Hz] and more precisely on occipital electrodes for the alpha-band. For the epileptic patients, these modifications were demonstrated by an increase of the power spectral density of the EEG signal. Nevertheless, these biological effects on the EEG are not sufficient to put forward some electrophysiological hypothesis