Study type: Medical/biological study (experimental study)

Photic cuing of escape by rats from an intense microwave field med./bio.

By: Levinson DM, Grove AM, Clarke RL, Justesen DR
Published in: Bioelectromagnetics 1982; 3 (1): 105-116
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Aim of study (acc. to author)

To study the effects of microwave irradiation on escape behavior of rats.

Background/further details

Rats received 25 2-min trials of training under one of four stimulus conditions: exposure to a highly intense 918 MHz field (dose rate, 60 mW/g); exposure to photic stimulation; exposure to the field in synchrony with photic stimulation; or exposure to faradic shock (i.e. by electric current). During conditioning trials, entry by a rat into a safe area of a multimode cavity resulted in immediate and complete cessation of stimulation; exit, in resumption.

Endpoint

Exposure

Exposure Parameters
Exposure 1: 918 MHz
Modulation type: CW
Exposure duration: five 2-minute intervals with irradiation alternating with six 2-minute intervals with sham-exposure
  • SAR: 60 mW/g mean (whole body) (determined calorimetrically)

Exposure 1

Main characteristics
Frequency 918 MHz
Type
Charakteristic
  • guided field
Exposure duration five 2-minute intervals with irradiation alternating with six 2-minute intervals with sham-exposure
Additional info 4 groups were used in this study; One group served as active control which received faradic shocks to the feet, the other groups were either microwave exposed or received photic stimulation or both.
Modulation
Modulation type CW
Exposure setup
Exposure source
  • cavity modified (Carroll et al. 1980)
Chamber cavity 44 vertical x 58 horizontal x 39 cm front to back, false floor 9cm above base of cavity
Parameters
Measurand Value Type Method Mass Remarks
SAR 60 mW/g mean calculated whole body determined calorimetrically
Additional parameter details

lamp 40W; photoic stimulation 350 lx, faradic shock, 800 µA

Exposed system:

Methods Endpoint/measurement parameters/methodology

Investigated system:
Time of investigation:
  • during exposure

Main outcome of study (acc. to author)

Acquisition of the escape response was rapid and highly efficient for shocked rats and was less rapid and efficient but was reliably demonstrated by exposed animals that were also signaled by light. In the absence of microwaves, cessation of light did not reliably motivate escape behavior. Although there was weak evidence of escape learning by animals subjected only to microwave irradiation, their performance failed to differ reliably from those of rats in the light-only condition. These results confirm and extend those of Carroll et al. (publication 88), which indicate that potentially lethal, deeply penetrating, nonpulsed microwaves in a multipath field lack the sensory quality to motivate efficient aversive behavior by the rat.

Study character:

Study funded by

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