Linkage between Cell-phone Usage and Long Term Memory Loss

sashae writes "Wired is reporting that that scientists at the University of Washington suspect that cell-phone usage causes long-term memory loss after a series of tests involving rats swimming in a pool of milk, attempting to find a platform in the centre of the pool. The rats exposed to cell-phone radiation were unable to find the platform after being exposed. "

Comments

Skeptical

[James Lanfear]

To be honest, I'm more than a little leery about trusting science news from Wired (or any other 'news' source, for that matter). It would have been nice to have some more info of the experiment.

Now speculation.

The big problem, IMO, with applying these results to humans is that we shouldn't have to. If cell-phone use results in memory loss, cell-phone users should have noticed something a long time ago (or people studying cell-phone users, anyway). And conversely, it should be simple enough to verify the results by studying cell-phone users. Considering that lab rats seem to be vulnerable to everything known to man, I'm not really convinced.

Re:Skeptical

[Falsch Freiheit]

If the effect of cell-phone use is fairly small, I'd expect that we wouldn't notice anything.

In particular, there's a 3-way correlation that would make it very hard to study memory loss problems on cell phone users without actually setting up a proper experiment with a control, etc.

1) Cell<->Stress.
People with busy (therefore stressful) lives tend to be much more likely to carry cell phones. (Or you could say that cell phone users are the people more likely to be leading stressful lives -- whatever.) I only have anecdotal evidence, but I suspect it could be found to be more general with a little bit of research. Also, Cell phones can be stressful. Either way, increased usage would tend to be associated with increased stress.

2) Stress<->Memory Problems.
There is research indicating that stress has a negative effect on memory. (And I've noticed this personally, too)

3) Cell<->Stress<->Memory Problems.
So, people with cell phones are likely to have memory loss problems without it being caused by the cell phone. (Instead both cell phone use and memory loss stemming from a stressful lifestyle)

And, note: I don't mean to say that all cell phone users are stressed. Personally, I find that once things like cell phones are recognized as being solely for the convenience of the person carrying it (and therefore it's ignored if inconvenient to answer it or the caller-id shows that it's an annoying person, people that abuse it are beaten until they stop, etc.) a cell phone is a handy convenience.

Hmm

[twit]

I'm not one to disparage the scientific method, but the more important fact is what particular mechanism in RF exposure to the brain might be causing the acetylcholine deficit.

We can start the process of generalizing and extending theories when we know the how and why of the subject. Alone, this experiment is scientific trivia: not uninteresting, but unattached to the greater body of knowledge.

I'd think that knowledge of this mechanism would be important for a fair bit more than cell phones - think about all the things that we use which give off some kind of signal. This makes further research in this vein quite relevant and necessary.

Likewise, we should consider the nature of the study data. Is it replicable to humans, most importantly. Although ethics considerations may preclude testing directly, evidence of a long-term memory deficit could possibly be teased out of an epidemiological or statistical study.

In any case, my own cell phone is staying where it usually does: in my coat pocket and turned off.

--

What the research shows

[jabber]

The research is sound and valid. It clearly shows that:

Yuppies who use cell-phones in their endless effort to win the rat-race while buoyed up by the milk of human kindness, tend to forget the ethical platform, their veritable solid ground in a shifting, fluid sea of corporate mentality, and become wife-beating dead-beat dads and absentee fathers who do not contribute to society in the slightest.

Actually, we need to remember (hard to do, since we use cell-phones) that dairy products are high in fat, which is bad for you.

If I was forced to swim around in a pool of milk, I'd have a hard time remembering things as well.

Reminds me of an old joke about a Russian scientist experimenting with flies.

1. Remove fly wings so it doesn't escape, and place fly on table.
2. Move hands towards fly: Observed that fly walks away.
3. Remove a leg from the fly.
4. Place fly on table.
5. repeat steps 2 thru 4 as needed.

Conclusion: After the removal of all legs, the fly becomes conditioned not to fear hands.