Effects of the action of microwave-frequency electromagnetic radiation on the spike activity of neurons in the supraoptic nucleus of the hypothalamus in rats.

Acute experiments on white rats anesthetized with Nembutal (40 mg/kg, i.p.) were performed with extracellular recording and analysis of background spike activity from neurons in the supraoptic nucleus of the hypothalamus after exposure to electromagnetic radiation in the millimeter range. The distribution of neurons was determined in terms of the degree of regularity, the nature of the dynamics of neural streams, and the modalities of histograms of interspike intervals; the mean neuron spike frequency was calculated, along with the coefficient of variation of interspike intervals. These studies demonstrated changes in the background spike activity, predominantly affecting the internal structure of the spike streams recorded. The major changes were in the duration of interspike intervals and the degree of regularity of spike activity. Statistically significant changes in the mean spike frequencies of neuron populations in individual frequency ranges were also seen.