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Published 1995 | public
Book Section - Chapter

Magnetoreception and EMF Effects: Sensory perception of the geomagnetic field in Animals and Humans

Abstract

This chapter reviews numerous discoveries that have been made during the past 15 years concerning the ability of living organisms to respond to the geomagnetic field. These include (1) the magnetotactic response of bacteria and protozoans, (2) magnetic effects on homing and navigational behavior by migrating animals, (3) the discovery of magnetically influenced signals in nerve fibers from the trigeminal system in birds and fish, and (4) the testing of two biophysical hypotheses for the magnetoreception mechanism (biogenic magnetite and optical pumping). A final discussion concerns possible biological effects of environmental electromagnetic fields on the basis of the energy required to rotate the small crystals of biogenic magnetite that have been discovered in various human tissues.

Additional Information

© 1995 American Chemical Society. Received for review April 6, 1994. Accepted revised manuscript January 3, 1995. This study was supported by Electric Power Research Institute contract WO4307-03 and is contribution 5392 from the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at the California Institute of Technology.

Additional details

Created:
August 20, 2023
Modified:
January 13, 2024