Central-Nervous-System Effects as Measured by Reaction Time in Squirrel Monkeys Exposed for Short Periods to Extremely Low-Frequency Magnetic Fields

摘要

The U.S. Navy has current interest in electromagnetic radiation including the extremely low-frequency (ELF) region. The Navy has begun a major research effort to scientifically document any physiological effects which these fields can have on man and his ecology. This present experiment was designed to detect any acute instantaneous central-nervous-system effects resulting from exposure to an ELF magnetic field. Reaction-time measurements were taken on three squirrel monkeys for 37 one-hour daily sessions. No significant changes in these measurements were observed between control sessions and sessions in which the animals were exposed to 3 gauss at 45 Hz or to a field of 3 gauss at 7 Hz. Two other indices of performance, reinforcement ratio and efficiency ratio, were also unchanged. The small number of subjects does not permit a firm conclusion; however, the evidence indicates that the magnetic field did not produce a central-nervous-system response measurable by the technique employed in this study. (Author)