Comparative effects of two aerobic training protocols on cognitive function, brain damage, and neurotransmitter levels in rats exposed to electromagnetic radiation emitted from a Wi-Fi router

Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) emitted from Wi-Fi routers has resulted in social and scientific concerns owing to several adverse effects. The objective of the current study was to compare the impact of swimming exercise (SE) and treadmill running (TR) on EMR-induced brain damage and cognitive impairment by focusing on GABA and serotonin.

36 male Wistar rats were randomly allocated to six groups, which included control (C), EMR, SE, TR, EMR + SE, and EMR + TR (n = 6/group). The rats were exposed to 4-h daily EMR emitted from a Wi-Fi_{2.45 GHz} router at a frequency of 2400 GHz and engaged in TR (25–35 min/day, 5 days/week) or SE (30 min/day, 5 days/week) for 4 weeks. Following the last intervention, a morris water maze was conducted, and subsequently hippocampus tissues were collected to assess the expression of GABA and serotonin via western blot analysis and histopathological assessment.

Exposure to EMR induced neuroinflammation, neuronal cell death, cell disruption, learning and memory impairement, significantly reduced serotonin, and significantly increased GABA compared to the C group (P < 0.05). However, the SE-EMR and TR-EMR groups markedly alleviated brain damage, and partly ameliorated learning and memory decline compared to the EMR group. No significant difference between the TR-EMR and SE-EMR was evident.

4-week EMR exposure induces histopathological alterations, reduces serotonin, and increases GABA. TR and SE have the potential to improve EMR-induced brain damage and cognitive impairment, while both training protocols could not alter the expression of serotonin and GABA.