Chae et al. 2022 - Human magnetic sense is mediated by a light and magnetic field resonance-dependent mechanism
Thirty-four male volunteers participated in an experiment where they were seated on a rotatable chair and exposed to various geomagnetic field (GMF)-like magnetic fields (MFs) differing in intensity, inclination, and magnetic north direction. Before each session, the participants either experienced short-term starvation or were normally fed. In the initial conditioning phase, they faced the ambient magnetic north and were either trained to associate this direction with food or not. In the subsequent test phase, where the magnetic north was randomly adjusted to either true north or south, participants were tasked with identifying the manipulated magnetic north.
Under broad-spectrum visible light (350–800 nm), those who were starved—resulting in lowered blood glucose levels—and conditioned to link food with magnetic north demonstrated a markedly better ability to correctly orient themselves on the chair than those who were not conditioned.
Additional experiments highlighted the sensitivity of human geomagnetic orientation to light wavelengths, with blue light being particularly influential. No significant orientation differences were noted in darkness, underscoring the necessity of light for accurate magnetic orientation.
The impact of radio frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs) in the MHz range was also investigated, akin to studies on bird orientation (Ritz et al. 2000, 2004). Exposure to a 1.260 MHz field, which corresponds to the electron Larmor frequency in the local GMF (45.0 μT), and lower-frequency broadband MFs, but not to a 1.890 MHz field, significantly impaired magnetic orientation, indicating interference with a radical pair mechanism (RPM).
These findings suggest that human magnetic orientation is not facilitated by magnetite-based mechanisms but rather by light-activated radical pairs.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-12460-6
Thirty-four male volunteers participated in an experiment where they were seated on a rotatable chair and exposed to various geomagnetic field (GMF)-like magnetic fields (MFs) differing in intensity, inclination, and magnetic north direction. Before each session, the participants either experienced short-term starvation or were normally fed. In the initial conditioning phase, they faced the ambient magnetic north and were either trained to associate this direction with food or not. In the subsequent test phase, where the magnetic north was randomly adjusted to either true north or south, participants were tasked with identifying the manipulated magnetic north.
Under broad-spectrum visible light (350–800 nm), those who were starved—resulting in lowered blood glucose levels—and conditioned to link food with magnetic north demonstrated a markedly better ability to correctly orient themselves on the chair than those who were not conditioned.
Additional experiments highlighted the sensitivity of human geomagnetic orientation to light wavelengths, with blue light being particularly influential. No significant orientation differences were noted in darkness, underscoring the necessity of light for accurate magnetic orientation.
The impact of radio frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs) in the MHz range was also investigated, akin to studies on bird orientation (Ritz et al. 2000, 2004). Exposure to a 1.260 MHz field, which corresponds to the electron Larmor frequency in the local GMF (45.0 μT), and lower-frequency broadband MFs, but not to a 1.890 MHz field, significantly impaired magnetic orientation, indicating interference with a radical pair mechanism (RPM).
These findings suggest that human magnetic orientation is not facilitated by magnetite-based mechanisms but rather by light-activated radical pairs.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-12460-6
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
![[-]](https://psiencequest.net/forums/images/collapse.png)