Use of a cell phone for as little as 50 minutes at a time appears to affect brain glucose metabolism in the region closest to the phone’s antenna, a new study shows.

Nora Volkow, director of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues used positron emission tomography (PET) during cell phone use in the on and then off positions and found that although whole-brain metabolism was not affected, metabolism was increased in the orbitofrontal cortex and the temporal pole areas of the brain while the cell phone was on, areas that are close to where phone’s antenna meets the head.

“We do not know what the clinical significance of this finding is, both with respect to potential therapeutic effect of this type of technology but also potential negative consequences from cell phone exposure,” she stated.  “Could one use, for example, this type of technology to activate areas of the brain that may not be properly activated and explore potential therapeutic applications of this type of technology?

In the interim though, she recommends using hands-free devices or speaker-phone mode to avoid direct contact of the telephone with the head.

Note: research conducted by British consumer research magazine Which? indicates that hands-free headsets may significantly increase your brain’s exposure to radiation because the connecting wire acts as an antenna. – Ed.