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Transduction of the Geomagnetic Field as Evidenced from Alpha-band Activity in the Human Brain

Connie X. Wang, Isaac A. Hilburn, Daw-An Wu, Yuki Mizuhara, Christopher P. Cousté, Jacob N. H. Abrahams, Sam E. Bernstein, Ayumu Matani, Shinsuke Shimojo, Joseph L. Kirschvink
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/448449
Connie X. Wang
Computation & Neural Systems, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
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Isaac A. Hilburn
Division of Geological & Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
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Daw-An Wu
Computation & Neural Systems, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.Division of Biology & Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
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Yuki Mizuhara
Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
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Christopher P. Cousté
Division of Geological & Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
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Jacob N. H. Abrahams
Division of Geological & Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
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Sam E. Bernstein
Department of Computer Science, Princeton University, Princeton NJ, USA.
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Ayumu Matani
Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
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Shinsuke Shimojo
Computation & Neural Systems, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.Division of Biology & Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
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  • For correspondence: pmag.contact@caltech.edu
Joseph L. Kirschvink
Division of Geological & Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Ookayama, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan.
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  • For correspondence: pmag.contact@caltech.edu
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Abstract

Magnetoreception, the perception of the geomagnetic field, is a sensory modality well-established across all major groups of vertebrates and some invertebrates, but its presence in humans has been tested rarely, yielding inconclusive results. We report here a strong, specific human brain response to ecologically-relevant rotations of Earth-strength magnetic fields. Following geomagnetic stimulation, a drop in amplitude of EEG alpha oscillations (8-13 Hz) occurred in a repeatable manner. Termed alpha event-related desynchronization (alpha-ERD), such a response is associated with sensory and cognitive processing of external stimuli. Biophysical tests showed that the neural response was sensitive to the dynamic components and axial alignment of the field but also to the static components and polarity of the field. This pattern of results implicates ferromagnetism as the biophysical basis for the sensory transduction and provides a basis to start the behavioral exploration of human magnetoreception.

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Posted October 20, 2018.
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Transduction of the Geomagnetic Field as Evidenced from Alpha-band Activity in the Human Brain
Connie X. Wang, Isaac A. Hilburn, Daw-An Wu, Yuki Mizuhara, Christopher P. Cousté, Jacob N. H. Abrahams, Sam E. Bernstein, Ayumu Matani, Shinsuke Shimojo, Joseph L. Kirschvink
bioRxiv 448449; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/448449
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Transduction of the Geomagnetic Field as Evidenced from Alpha-band Activity in the Human Brain
Connie X. Wang, Isaac A. Hilburn, Daw-An Wu, Yuki Mizuhara, Christopher P. Cousté, Jacob N. H. Abrahams, Sam E. Bernstein, Ayumu Matani, Shinsuke Shimojo, Joseph L. Kirschvink
bioRxiv 448449; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/448449

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