Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com – The idea that humans can detect magnetic fields has long been a source of controversy, but this will change now. What many people have long suspected has finally been proven. The Earth’s magnetic fields do affect the human brain! Yes, humans have a ‘geomagnetic sense’.
Earth’s magnetic field is generated by an interaction between rotation in the planet’s core and electrical currents. It can be described as a force field that encompasses the Earth and protects our planet from solar radiation.
The geomagnetic field is critical to life on Earth. Without it, charged particles from the sun (the “solar wind”) would blow away the atmosphere, scientists say.Credit: © SkyLine / Fotolia
Scientists say there is “a strong, specific human brain response to ecologically-relevant rotations of Earth-strength magnetic fields.”
Birds have an extraordinary ability to sense Earth’s magnetic field. This helps them to fly home from unfamiliar places and migrate, crossing entire continents.
This ability is referred to by scientists as “magnetoreception” and can be described as a ‘sixth sense’ that birds use in their daily lives. Sea turtles have also a geomagnetic sense that supports their biological navigation system.
Scientists have previously speculated, but couldn’t determine whether humans share this ability as well.
A team of geoscientists and neurobiologists have now used electroencephalography to record adult participants’ brain activity during magnetic field manipulations. The results confirmed by Geoscientist Joseph Kirschvink, neuroscientist Shin Shimojo, and their colleagues at Caltech and the University of Tokyo offer an answer that ends a controversial debate.
In carefully controlled experiments, each participant was asked to enter the cage and sit still on a wooden chair in the dark, facing straight ahead towards the North.
Scientists observed in some participants a decrease in alpha-band brain activity, an established response to sensory input.
The researchers replicated this effect in participants who responded strongly and confirmed these responses were tuned to the magnetic field of the Northern Hemisphere, where the study was conducted.
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It means that magnetoreception is something humans and some animals have in common, but there is a difference how we respond to the geomagnetic stimuli. many migrating and homing animals are sensitive to Earth’s magnetic field and use it for navigation purposes. Humans on the other hand are not consciously aware of the geomagnetic stimuli that we encounter in everyday life.
Birds Have A ‘Sixth Sense’ And Can Feel Earth’s Magnetic Field – Read more
According to Prof Joseph Kirschvink, leader of the research from the California Institute of Technology, “we have not as a species lost the magnetic sensory system that our ancestors, millions of years ago had. We are part of Earth’s magnetic biosphere.”
“Given that a number of other animals can sense Earth’s magnetic field, it is certainly within the realm of possibility that humans can as well,” Professor Kenneth Lohmann, an expert in magnetoreception from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said.
This science study is not finished yet, and future studies of magnetoreception in diverse human populations may provide new clues into the evolution and individual variation of this ancient sensory system.
To further validate this hypothesis, scientists think it’s also necessary to reproduce the experiment in the Southern Hemisphere and monitor participants’ in alpha-band brain activity.
Written by Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com Staff Writer
Expand for referenceseNeuro, DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0483-18.2019