# RF-049 — Regional brain glucose metabolism in a blinded crossover experiment

Why this matters
A brain scan detected increased glucose use in the region nearest the active phone's antenna in a blinded human experiment. Glucose use measures brain metabolism, so this provides evidence of an objective response under that protocol. Whether the response affects health or function remains unresolved; the scan did not demonstrate injury.

Id: RF-049

Author: Volkow et al.

Full Authors: Nora D Volkow; Dardo Tomasi; Gene-Jack Wang; Paul Vaska; Joanna S Fowler; Frank Telang; Dave Alexoff; Jean Logan; Christopher Wong

Year: 2011

Title: Effects of cell phone radiofrequency signal exposure on brain glucose metabolism

Journal: JAMA

Citation: Volkow ND, Tomasi D, Wang GJ, Vaska P, Fowler JS, Telang F, Alexoff D, Logan J, Wong C. Effects of cell phone radiofrequency signal exposure on brain glucose metabolism. JAMA. 2011;305(8):808-813. doi:10.1001/jama.2011.186.

Doi: 10.1001/jama.2011.186

Pmid: 21343580

Topic: Human physiology and function

Verification Group: Original text reviewed

Record Role: Original text reviewed

Featured: True

Exposure: 837.8 MHz CDMA handset; right phone active and muted for 50 min versus both phones off. Manufacturer model maximum head SAR 0.901 W/kg, not participant-specific measured SAR.

Design: Randomized crossover, 47 healthy participants analysed, each with two FDG-PET sessions; participants blinded; field signal checked throughout calls.

Finding: Near-antenna regional metabolism was 35.7 versus 33.3 micromol/100 g/min; mean difference 2.4 (95% CI 0.67-4.2), p=.004. Whole-brain metabolism did not differ.

Boundary: Objective physiological response of unknown clinical significance; neither brain injury nor cancer demonstrated. No individual compliance certification from handset model SAR.

Related: US NIH/Brookhaven programme; independent of Swiss and French EEG experiments.

Protection Question: Does the local metabolic response have consequences for health or function? This blinded human observation establishes an objective response under its protocol, while clinical significance and individual delivered dose remain unresolved.

Access: Original accepted manuscript methods, results and disclosures reviewed; Scite abstract and notices checked

Locator: Author manuscript pp.3-5 methods/results; p.7 funding; p.1 conflict statement

Notice: No correction, concern or retraction identified in Scite/primary PubMed and targeted DOI search; commentary is not an erratum.

Funding: NIH intramural research programme and US Department of Energy infrastructure support; manuscript states funders had no role in conduct or interpretation.

Conflicts: Authors reported none on ICMJE disclosures.

Source Url: https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2011.186

Retrieval Links: https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2011.186 | https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3184892/ | https://ehtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/Volkow-et-al.-2011.pdf | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21343580/

Verification Date: 2026-10-20