Mode of use by mobile phone and change of time of simple audio-motor reaction for users of mobile communication. Age related features of ipsilateral and contralateral effects

Abstract

By analysing the time of a simple auditory-motor reaction with mono-presentation of an audio signal, the effect of the electromagnetic radiation of a mobile phone on the human auditory system is evaluated. Regularities in the frequency of occurrence of ipsi and contralateral effects in mobile users of different age groups are obtained. This study has no analogues in either Russian or foreign publications and is currently exclusive. The purpose was to study age-related features of the severity of ipsi and contralateral effects, depending on the mode of use of the mobile phone. To record the ipsi- and contralateral effects, we used the differences in the average values of a simple auditory-motor reaction between the left and right ears with mono-presentation of the sound signal of 573 respondents of different age groups. The obtained values were compared with the control group data for each age group (491 respondents). If the difference was greater than in the control group, the ipsilateral or contralateral effect was recorded. The severity of the effect was evaluated taking into account the lateral preferences of each participant in the experiments (to which ear the mobile phone is most often held) and the mode of use of the mobile phone. Statistical processing of the results was carried out using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test and the method of descriptive statistics: prevalence indicator (Pr) (relative frequency of manifestation of a particular attribute in the sample). The comparison of the severity of ipsi and contralateral effects for different age groups allowed us to establish the following patterns. It was found that, in general, the manifestation of the contralateral effect decreases with age, and the ipsilateral effect increases. However, this change is not linear. It is shown that the features of the manifestation of the contralateral and ipsilateral effect for each age group depend both on the time of daily use of a mobile phone and on the total duration of use of a mobile phone. We believe that when studying multidimensional input data, an individual approach is necessary. The presented results confirm the negative effect of the radiation of mobile phones on the auditory system, primarily of our younger generation. Given the special vulnerability of children to physical environmental factors and the depth of penetration of EMR MT into the brain of a child, we believe that from a radiobiological point of view, there is already a need to develop a special SanPiN (sanitary rules and norms) for all available modern low-intensity sources of electromagnetic radiation, including Wi-Fi.