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Human Cognitive Function (human + cognitive_function)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Life Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

Learning large-scale spatial relationships in a maze and effects of MK-801 on retrieval in the rhesus monkey

DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROBIOLOGY, Issue 13 2007
Jian Hong Wang
Abstract Monkeys have strong abilities to remember the visual properties of potential food sources for survival in the nature. The present study demonstrated the first observations of rhesus monkeys learning to solve complex spatial mazes in which routes were guided by visual cues. Three monkeys were trained in a maze (6 m × 6 m) included of four different mazes. We recorded the cue and cup errors, latencies, and pathway for each trial. The data showed that monkeys learned the target place after three days in the first maze and spent a shorter time in learning the following mazes. The maze was an efficient method to measure the ability and proceeding of spatial memory in monkeys. Moreover, working memory can also be tested by using the maze. MK-801 at 0.02 mg/kg but not at 0.005 mg/kg impaired monkeys' retrieval of spatial memory after they learned all four mazes. The present maze may provide an efficient method to help bridging the gap in cognition between nonhuman primates and humans, and in particular to gain insight into human cognitive function and dysfunction. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol, 2007. [source]

No effect of TETRA hand portable transmission signals on human cognitive function and symptoms

BIOELECTROMAGNETICS, Issue 5 2010
Ingunn S. Riddervold
Abstract Current radio frequency radiation exposure guidelines rest on well-established thermal effects. However, recent research into analogue and digital transmission fields at levels covered by the exposure guidelines has indicated possible detrimental effects on human cognitive performance. To investigate this, we conducted a controlled climate chamber study of possible changes in cognitive performance in healthy volunteers exposed to transmission signals from TETRA hand portables (TETRA handsets). The trial deployed a balanced, randomized, double-blinded cross-over design. Performance on different paper-and-pencil, auditory and computer-based cognitive tasks was monitored in 53 male volunteers (mean age 36.41 years, SD 8.35) during 45-min exposure to a TETRA handset and sham control signals remotely controlled from a laboratory more than 100,km away. The main cognitive outcome was the Trail Making B (TMB) test. In addition, the participants completed a computer-based questionnaire measuring self-reported psychological and physical symptoms. No statistically significant differences (P,<,0.05) between the TETRA and sham conditions were found for either TMB (estimated difference 3.8%, confidence interval (CI) ,1.6% to 9.2%) or any of the remaining cognitive tasks or symptoms. In conclusion, we found no evidence that brief exposure to hand-held TETRA transmitters' affects human cognitive function or subjective symptoms. Bioelectromagnetics 31:380,390, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Cognitive function and symptoms in adults and adolescents in relation to rf radiation from UMTS base stations

BIOELECTROMAGNETICS, Issue 4 2008
Ingunn S. Riddervold
Abstract There is widespread public concern about the potential adverse health effects of mobile phones in general and their associated base stations in particular. This study was designed to investigate the acute effects of radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (EMF) emitted by the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) mobile phone base stations on human cognitive function and symptoms. Forty adolescents (15,16 years) and 40 adults (25,40 years) were exposed to four conditions: (1) sham, (2) a Continuous Wave (CW) at 2140 MHz, (3) a signal at 2140 MHz modulated as UMTS and (4) UMTS at 2140 MHz including all control features in a randomized, double blinded cross-over design. Each exposure lasted 45 min. During exposure the participants performed different cognitive tasks with the Trail Making B (TMB) test as the main outcome and completed a questionnaire measuring self reported subjective symptoms. No statistically significant differences between the UMTS and sham conditions were found for performance on TMB. For the adults, the estimated difference between UMTS and sham was ,3.2% (,9.2%; 2.9%) and for the adolescents 5.5% (,1.1%; 12.2%). No significant changes were found in any of the cognitive tasks. An increase in ,headache rating' was observed when data from the adolescents and adults were combined (P,=,0.027), an effect that may be due to differences at baseline. In conclusion, the primary hypothesis that UMTS radiation reduces general performance in the TMB test was not confirmed. However, we suggest that the hypothesis of subjective symptoms and EMF exposure needs further research. Bioelectromagnetics 29:257,267, 2008. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]