Smartphones affect the memory of young people according to a Swiss study by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) reported by the Swiss journal The weather. High frequency electromagnetic fields can have harmful effects on the development of memory in certain areas of the brain.
The study was conducted among 700 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years. They were followed individually for a year by the researchers. The latter obtained individual user data from the telephone operators. The researchers confirmed the results of a previous study dating from 2015, namely that smartphones had negative effects on the development of the services of so-called figural memory.
Headphones and loudspeaker to reduce potential risks
Figural memory is located in the right hemisphere of the brain. To evaluate it, tests are carried out on a computer, it is a question of assembling various abstract figures. The researchers noticed that the drop in performance was greatest when young people used their phones on the right ear. According to Professor Martin Röösli, the originator of the study, this tends to indicate that the dose of radiation absorbed is responsible for this drop.
On the other hand, sending messages, surfing the Internet or playing video games on your smartphone would not have any consequence on the development of memory, the irradiation of the brain being lower during these activities. The researchers want to confirm the results of this study in order to rule out other factors that may have an impact on cognitive abilities, such as puberty.
In the meantime, Professor Röösli recommends using headphones or the loudspeaker to make calls, reducing potential risks. This is particularly true when reception is poor because the power of the telephone is then at its maximum.
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