Effects of Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields on the Nervous System. In vivo Experiments (Review)

This article is a continuation of a review whose first part analysed the works on the effect of radio frequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMF) on the central nervous system (CNS) in vitro (changes in the action potential, cell and myelin sheath morphology, as well as in the permeability of the blood–brain barrier (using cultures of nerve cells only); in addition, it presented various approaches to studying the effects of RF EMF and pointed out difficulties of systematizing the experimental data. The present article dwells on the morpho-histological changes in CNS structures under RF EMF exposure in young animals, since it allows us to give an indirect assessment of possible negative consequences of RF EMF exposure for children and adolescents as the cohort most vulnerable to any environmental factors. Morphological and histological changes in CNS structures (cerebral cortex, brainstem, cerebellum, auditory system, etc.) as well as changing electroencephalographic parameters were analysed. A bulk of data on the morphological and histological changes in the hippocampus was considered separately. In addition, the paper presents an analysis of changes in the biometric parameters of experimental animals under chronic exposure to RF EMF and its effect on cell viability (including nerve cell apoptosis and autophagy). Thus, having a reliable corpus of modern experimental studies proving the seriousness of the problem of the effects of electromagnetic fields on the nervous system in children and adolescents is important in the context of ever-increasing electromagnetic pollution, primarily from electromagnetic fields produced by cellular networks.