Dutch scientists have found that frequent use of mobile phones leads to slower brain activity but that their capability to focus on specific issues increases, it was reported on Monday.

The study on the long-term effects of mobile phone usage was published in the September edition of International Journal of Neuroscience.

The study was conducted by the Radboud University of Nijmegen and Brainclinics Diagnostic, a group of independent Dutch scientists doing individual brain research and applied scientific functional brain research.

The scientists compared 100 frequent mobile phone users with 100 non-users and another group of 100 people who use mobile phones infrequently.

The frequent mobile phone users are people who use their mobile phone very often and have been doing so for several years.

The phenomenon of decreased brain activity among mobile phone users resembles the process that occurs in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients, the researchers say.

But, main researcher Martijn Ans said, brain activity of Alzheimer's disease patients tends to be extremely low. Among mobile phone users the lower brain activity of mobile is still within "normal" ranges, he added.