Non-linear analysis of the electroencephalogram for detecting effects of low-level electromagnetic fields

The study compared traditional spectral analysis and a new scale-invariant method, the analysis of the length distribution of low-variability periods (LDLVPs), to distinguish between electro-encephalogram (EEG) signals with and without a weak stressor, a low-level modulated microwave field. During the experiment, 23 healthy volunteers were exposed to a microwave (450 MHz) of 7 Hz frequency on-off modulation. The field power density at the scalp was 0.16 mW cm−2. The experimental protocol consisted of ten cycles of repetitive microwave exposure. Signals from frontal EEG channels FP1 and FP2 were analysed. Smooth power spectrum and length distribution curves of low-variability periods, as well as probability distribution close to normal, confirmed that stationarity of the EEG signal during recordings was achieved. The quantitative measure of LDLVPs provided a significant detection of the effect of the stressor for the six subjects exposed to the microwave field but for none of the sham recordings. The spectral analysis revealed a significant result for one subject only. A significant effect of the exposure to the EEG signal was detected in 25% of subjects, with microwave exposure increasing EEG variability. The effect was not detectable by power spectral measures.