People may process information about Earth’s magnetic field without knowing it, a study of brain waves suggests.
Birds, fish and some other creatures can sense Earth’s magnetic field. This ability is known as magnetoreception (mag-NEE-toe-ree-SEP-shun). Many creatures use it navigate. Scientists have long wondered whether humans can do this, too. Now, a study of brain waves suggests people indeed have a “sixth sense” — for magnetism.
In a lab at the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, researchers discovered people form a distinct brain-wave pattern when they are exposed to a magnetic field that is equal in strength to Earth's . But the pattern emerges only when the field points and moves in a certain way. The researchers shared their findings online March 18 in eNeuro.
The discovery offers evidence that people respond to Earth’s magnetic field without knowing it. It’s not yet clear how our brains might use this information.
Biophysicist Can Xie’s first impression of the study was, “Wow, I cannot believe it!” Previous tests of magnetic sense in humans have had mixed results. This new result is “probably a big step for the human magnetic sense,” Xie says. He works at Peking University in Beijing, China.
Rotating a downward-pointing magnetic field from northeast to northwest caused a dip in peoples’ alpha brain waves (left). This response was not seen when the field rotated in the opposite direction (center) or was held steady (right). Credit: Science News/YouTube