217 Int. J. Biometeor. 1973, vol. 17, number 3, pp.

217-220

Some Behavioral Effects of Pre- and Neo -Natal Exposure to an ELF Rotating Magnetic Field
,by M.A. Persinger and K.P. Ossenkopp
INTRODUCTION Rats that have been exposed during th e i r prenatal development to an E L F (0.5 Hz) rotating magnetic field (RMF) with intensities ranging f r o m < 1 to 30 gauss, have been r e p o r t e d to show d e c r e a s e d ambulatory behavior (Ossenkopp, 1972; P e r s i n g e r , 1969), in c r e a s e d defecation ( P e r s i n g e r , 1969), l e s s b ar p r e s s ing during a Sidman avoidance situation ( P e r s i n g e r and F o st er , 1970), and g r e a t e r conditioned suppression ( P e r s i n g e r and P ear , 1972), r e l a t i v e to controls. P r e n a t a l l y R M F - ex p o s e d rats also showed significar~t i n c r e a s e s in thyroid and ~testicle weights (Ossenkopp, Koltek and P e r s i n g e r , 1972). To further t e s t the behavioral consequences of prenatal RMF exposure, we decided to use other operant techniques. R e s e a r c h with the Halasz p r o c e d u r e (delayed conditioned approach) has shown that rats with various b r a i n lesions can be differentiated in situations where other m o r e static p r o c e d u r e s are r e l a t i v e l y insensitive (e. g ., Halasz, et al., 1970). A modified v e r s i o n of this p r o c e d u r e was used in the p r e s e n t studies. METHOD SUBJECTS. Sixteen sixty day old female Holtzman strain albino rats w e r e used as subjects. Eight of the animals had been exposed during t h e i r fetal d e v e l opment to a 0.5 Hz rotating magnetic field (RMF) with intensities of either < 1-3 gauss (RMF-L group) or 3-30 gauss (RMF-H group). The other eight subjects had been exposed during t h e ir prenatal development to either a control or sh am RMF field. APPARATUS. The RMF was c r e a t e d by two h o r s e s h o e magnets rotating in opposite direction about t h e ir m a j o r axes at 30 r o t / r a i n by an e l e c t r i c m o t o r . More p r e c i s e descriptions and a diagram of the apparatus have been published e l s e w h e r e ( P e r s i n g e r and Pear, 1972). PROCEDURE. The breeding and exposure p r o c e d u r e s for 'the m o t h e r s of the subjects used in this study have been d e s c r ib e d e a r l i e r (Ossenkopp et al., 1972; P e r s i n g e r , 1969). Essentially, following exposure to the RMF with irrtensities of either 0.5-3 or 3-30 gauss during prenatal days 1 to 21 (birth), the animals and t h e i r mothers w e r e r e m o v e d from the experimental situation. Control subjects had spent t h ei r prenatal developmen't in an a r e a 200 e m f r o m the c l o s e s t magnet, *) Environmental Psychophysiology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Laurentian University, Sudbury, On'tario, Canada. **) Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. P r e s e n t e d at the Sixth International B i o m e te o r o l o g i cal Congress, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 3-9 September 1972.

218 w h i l e s h a m - s u b j e c t s h a d s p e n t t h e i r p r e n a t a l d e v e l o p m e n t in t h e a p p a r a t u s w h i c h p r o d u c e d t h e RMF, b u t w i t h t h e m a g n e t s r e m o v e d . T h e l a t t e r p r o c e d u r e w a s i m p l e m e n t e d in o r d e r to c o n t r o l f o r p o s s i b l e a r t i f a c t u a l s t i m u l i f r o m t h e a p p a r a t u s . When t h e s t i b j e c t s h a d r e a c h e d t h e t e s t i n g age, t h e y w e r e t r a i n e d u n d e r 2 3 - h r w a t e r d e p r i v a t i o n to p r e s s a l e v e r f o r wager r e i n f o r e e m e r ~ t at 'the o n s e t of a 24 s t o n e . T h e r e w e r e 30 t o n e - w ~ t e r p r e s e n t a t i o n s p e r s e s s i o n and six s e s s i o n s p e r week. When t h e a n i m a l s h a d a c q u i r e d 'the d i s c r i m i n a t i o n , a 10 s d e l a y w a s i n s t i t u t e d in a s t e p - l i k e f a s h i o n h a l f - w a y t h r o u g h one s e s s i o n and m a i n t a i n e d f o r t h e r e m a i n i n g s e s s i o n s . D u r i n g t h e 10 s d e l a y no w ~ t e r w a s a v a i l a b l e .

R E S U L T S AND DISCUSSION F i g u r e 1 s u m m a r i z e s t h e r a t i o of t o t a l s e s s i o n r e s p o n s e s o v e r m e a n b a s e l i n e t o t a l r e s p o n s e s f o r b a s e l i n e , s t e p ( _ g ) and c o n s e q u e n t d a y s . As c a n b e s e e n , t h e R M F - e x p o s e d r ~ t s ( P l - 2 1 ) e m i t t e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y m o r e (p < 0.01) b a r p r e s s e s t h a n e i t h e r c o n t r o l s o r s h a m a n i m a l s w h e n t h e 10 s e c d e l a y w a s i n t r o d u c e d . An e x p o s u r e i n t e n s i t y d e p e n d e n c e w a s e v i d e n t b u t not s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t .

03 Ld Z

n 1.80 w d 1.70

I A P ( I - 2 1 ) M - L ,n= 4 o P(I-21)M-H ,n=4 A SHAM-M,n=4 CON , n=4

Ld 1 . 6 0

~
03 <

1.50

z 1.40 w
:~
W Z 0 rl

1.30

co I .20
UJ

_J ,~

J.oo
0.90 BASELINE _1BASELINE J-

Fig. 1.

R e s p o n s e r a t e c h a n g e s f o l l o w i n g i n t r o d u c t i o n of r e i n f o r c e m e n t d e l a y ( . r ) f o r r a t s t h a t had b e e n e x p o s e d d u r i n g p r e n a t a l d a y s 1 - 2 1 (birth) 'to a 0 . 5 Hz R M F - H (3-30 g a u s s ) , R M F - L ( 0 . 5 - 3 g a u s s ) , c o n t r o l and s h a m - f i e l d c o n d i t i o n s .

T h e r e l i a b i l i t y of t h e s e f i n d i n g s i s i n d i c a t e d s i n c e t h e O b s e r v e d b e h a v i o r a l e f f e c t s s h o w e d b o t h a R M F i n t e n s i t y - d e p e n d e n c e and d e v e l o p m e n t a l - t i m e d e p e n d e n c e . T h i s e f f e c t c a n b e m o r e c l e a r l y s e e n in Fig. 2. R e s u l t s f r o m both t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y and an u n p u b l i s h e d d o c t o r a l d i s s e r t a t i o n ( P e r s i n g e r , 1971) i n d i c a t e t h a t r e s p o n d i n g t o c h a n g e s in c o n d i t i o n e d t o n e - w a t e r r e i n f o r c e m e n t d e l i v e r y v a r i e s w i t h t h e t i m e of p r e n a t a l o r n e o n a t a l e x p o s u r e to t h e R M F . Such b e h a v i o r f o l l o w i n g t h e w i ' t h d r a w a l of m a i n t a i n i n g s t i m u l i is p o p u l a r l y c a l l e d " f r u s t r a t i o n " .

219
1.80
Z 0 OLIJ

rr
J

1"60

W Z
LI.I 03

1-40

.~ 1.20
\ \

I.tJ if) Z 0
~rt,._1 1.00

\ \ \

RMF
-.A

0 CONTROL SHAM- FIELD

X9
0'80
I I

PI3-16

PI-21 EXPOSURE DAYS

NI-4

Fig. 2. Summary of response rate changes for adult rats that had been exposed to either RMF, control, or sham-field conditions during prenatal days 13-16 (P 13-16), prenatal days 1-21 (P 1-21), and neonatal (postnatal) days 1-4 (N 1-4). The p r e c i s e mechanism by which these effects are mediated r e m a i n s to be i s o l a t ed. Maturation changes of the cerebellum and t h y r o i d - p i t u i t a r y complex p a r a l l e l s the RMF effect and would certainly be implicated from the works of Ossenkopp, Koltek and P e r s i n g e r (1972) and Ludwig (1971). However histological r e s u l t s of the c e r e b a l l a r cortices, ventral hypothalamie areas and thyroids of these animals are ir~teresting but inconclusive to date. REFERENCES HALASZ, M . F . , HUGHES, K . R . , HUMPHERYS, D.R. and PERSINGER, M.A. (1970) Radiogenic c e r e b e l l a r malformation: elicitation of behavioral t r a n s i e n t s to unmask compensated deficits of operant l e a r n i n g in r a t s . Amer. Zool., 10: 33. LUDWIG, H.W. (1971) Der Einfluss yon elektromagnetischen TiefstfrequenzWechselfeldern auf h'Shere Organismen. Biomed. Technik, 16: 67-72. OSSENKOPP, K.1~. (1972): Maturation and open-field behavior in rats exposed prenatally to an E L F low-ir~tensity rotating magnetic field. P s y c h . R e p . , 30: 371-374. OSSENKOPP, K. 1~., KOLTEK, W.T. and PERSINGER, M.A. (1972) : Prenatal exposure to an extremely low frequency-low intensity rotating magnetic field and i n c r e a s e in thyroid and testicle weights in r a t s . Develop. Psych0biol., 5 : 275-285. PERSINGER, M.A. (1969) : Open field behavior in rats exposed prenatally to a low intensity-low frequency, rotating magnetic field. Develop. Psychobiol., 2: 168-171.

220 PERSINGER, M.A. and FOSTER, W.S. (1970): ELF rotating magnetic fields: Prenatal exposure and adult behavior. Arch. Meteor. Geoph. Biokl. B, 18: 363-369. and PEAR, J.J. (1972): Prenatal exposure to an ELF-

PERSINGER,

M.A.

rotating magnetic field and slibsequent i n c r e a s e in conditioned suppression. Develop. Psych0biol., 5: 269-274.