Cell Phone Radio Waves Excite Brain Cells

Radio waves from a cell phone can affect the metabolism of a person's brain, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. But the effect has nothing to do with cancer, and researchers say there's no evidence that the increase in metabolism is harmful.

The human brain relies on electrical signals to communicate, so it makes sense that the electromagnetic energy that a cell phone puts out might affect brain cells, researchers say. Nora Volkow, a brain researcher and director of the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse, says she was intrigued by this possibility — for personal as well as professional reasons. Volkow says a 50-minute call clearly boosted brain metabolism. "There was an overall increase, approximately 6 to 8 percent," she says. "But only on the areas of the brain that were close to the antenna." Volkow says that level of increase in brain metabolism is not terribly dramatic — studies have shown that just opening your eyes can produce a much greater change in brain cells that process visual information. And scientists say it's hard to know what to make of the change. "Based on this finding I cannot say, 'Is this bad that you're increasing glucose metabolism?' Or 'could it be good?' " Volkow says. Other researchers agree there's no clear message from the result.