Response of mammalian nerve cells to low-level radiation

In experiments with rat brain slices it was shown that a radiation-induced short-term increase in spontaneous neutron activity was mainly a function of dose rate. Pulsed X-radiation (pulse length of 2·10-8 s, doses of 3·10-5 to 6·10-4 Gy) caused the most pronounced reactions that were almost completely prevented by caffeine, euphylline, and norepinephrine (10-4 to 10-3 M)