Findings from experiments conducted by a group of scientists at the UK’s University of Bristol suggest that mobile phones could speed up reaction times. A team lead Dr Alan Preece, found that subjects who had devices attached to one ear which mimicked the microwave output of mobile phones, reacted more quickly to words flashed onto a computer screen. Preece claims, in an article published last week in the New Scientist magazine, that though the increase in reaction time is small – only 4% – it is unlikely to be just a freak result because two separate groups both exhibited the same increase in response times.
Preece speculates that the reason for the speedy reactions could be due to microwaves assisting the flow of electrical signals through the brain, but could not explain the why this might occur. However, Preece does comment that though this may seem good news, it does raise the question of what other things mobile phone emissions could be doing to brain functions.
Preece dismissed many of the alleged effects of mobile emissions which have been surfacing recently. For example, Preece say the ‘heating effects’ in some reports are so small that larger increases in brain temperatures occur through mild exercise. And though Preece says he cannot comment on the long-term effects of mobile phone use on functions such as memory, his studies do rule out previous reports that emissions immediately affect short-term memory.
