Effects of exposure to a 50Hz sinusoidal magnetic field during the early adolescent period on spatial memory in mice

Adolescence is a critical developmental stage during which substantial remodeling occurs in brain areas involved in emotional and learning processes. Although a robust literature on the biological effects of extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MFs) has been documented, data on the effects of ELF-MF exposure during this period on cognitive functions remain scarce. In this study, early adolescent male mice were exposed from postnatal day (P) 23-35 to a 50Hz MF at 2mT for 60min/day. On P36-45, the potential effects of the MF exposure on spatial memory performance were examined using the Y-maze and Morris water maze tasks. The results showed that the MF exposure did not affect Y-maze performance but improved spatial learning acquisition and memory retention in the water maze task under the present experimental conditions. Bioelectromagnetics 34:275-284, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]