Anxiogenic effect of chronic exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic field in adult rats

Previous study has suggested some relations between extremely low frequency magnetic field (ELF MF) and the emotional state of human beings and animals. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the anxiety level could be affected by repeated ELF MF exposure of different daily durations. Adult SD rats were submitted to no exposure, MF exposure 1 h/day or 4 h/day for 25 days. Anxiety-related behaviors were examined in the open field test (OFT), the elevated plus maze (EPM), and light/dark box on the 21th, 23th and 25th exposure day, respectively. Results demonstrated that MF exposure 4 h/day increased the anxiety-like behaviors in rats in the open field test and the elevated plus maze test, without altering their locomotor activity, but had no effect in the light/dark box test. Moreover, MF exposure I h/day had no effect in any test. These findings indicate that chronic ELF MF exposure has anxiogenic effect in rats, which is dependent on the daily exposure duration and it is more sensitive to void space than to strong light. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.