EFFECTS OF LOW-INTENSITY MICROWAVES ON ISOLATED NEURONS.

The use of ganglia from the Marine gastropod Aplysia to study the effects of microwaves on isolated nerve cells is reported. In addition to the usual advantages of these ganglia for neural studies, they are much smaller in size (1 or 2 mm in diameter) than even the shortest length microwave the authors employ. This factor is extremely useful with respect to dosimetry and instrumentation. The experimental approach consists of placing an Aplysia ganglion within a microwave stripline and employing intracellular glass microelectrodes to record the electric activity of individual neurons before, during, and after the ganglion is irradiated. In addition to monitoring the incident and reflected microwave power levels, the authors have carefully recorded, and run controls for, ganglionic temperautre. Definite effects on the firing patterns of Aplysia neurons have been noted at absorbed microwave power levels that are below what human brain cells would be exposed to at the accepted American ″safety″ level (10 mW/cc). In large part, these effects are attributable to slight ganglionic warming, but in some cases, effects have been found that are not accompanied by, or not reproduced by, ganglionic warming. Discussion of the paper is appended.

Duke Scholars

Author William T. Joines Electrical and Computer Engineering