Why is it so difficult to study magnetic compass orientation in murine rodents?
(2022) In Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology 208(1). p.197-212- Abstract
A magnetic compass sense has been demonstrated in all major classes of vertebrates, as well as in many invertebrates. In mammals, controlled laboratory studies of mice have provided evidence for a robust magnetic compass that is comparable to, or exceeds, the performance of that in other animals. Nevertheless, the vast majority of laboratory studies of spatial behavior and cognition in murine rodents have failed to produce evidence of sensitivity to magnetic cues. Given the central role that a magnetic compass sense plays in the spatial ecology and cognition of non-mammalian vertebrates, and the potential utility that a global/universal reference frame derived from the magnetic field would have in mammals, the question of why responses... (More)
A magnetic compass sense has been demonstrated in all major classes of vertebrates, as well as in many invertebrates. In mammals, controlled laboratory studies of mice have provided evidence for a robust magnetic compass that is comparable to, or exceeds, the performance of that in other animals. Nevertheless, the vast majority of laboratory studies of spatial behavior and cognition in murine rodents have failed to produce evidence of sensitivity to magnetic cues. Given the central role that a magnetic compass sense plays in the spatial ecology and cognition of non-mammalian vertebrates, and the potential utility that a global/universal reference frame derived from the magnetic field would have in mammals, the question of why responses to magnetic cues have been so difficult to demonstrate reliably is of considerable importance. In this paper, we review evidence that the magnetic compass of murine rodents shares a number of properties with light-dependent compasses in a wide variety of other animals generally believed to be mediated by a radical pair mechanism (RPM) or related quantum process. Consistent with the RPM, we summarize both published and previously unpublished findings suggesting that the murine rodent compass is sensitive to low-level radio frequency (RF) fields. Finally, we argue that the presence of anthropogenic RF fields in laboratory settings, may be an important source of variability in responses of murine rodents to magnetic cues.
(Less)
- author
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Low-level RF fields, Magnetic compass, Murine rodents, Radical pair mechanism
- in
- Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
- volume
- 208
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 197 - 212
- publisher
- Springer
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:35094127
- scopus:85123838326
- ISSN
- 0340-7594
- DOI
- 10.1007/s00359-021-01532-z
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.
- id
- 12407971-7db9-439f-9e31-176dcaac417c
- date added to LUP
- 2022-02-16 13:50:05
- date last changed
- 2024-04-18 05:40:01
@article{12407971-7db9-439f-9e31-176dcaac417c,
abstract = {{<p>A magnetic compass sense has been demonstrated in all major classes of vertebrates, as well as in many invertebrates. In mammals, controlled laboratory studies of mice have provided evidence for a robust magnetic compass that is comparable to, or exceeds, the performance of that in other animals. Nevertheless, the vast majority of laboratory studies of spatial behavior and cognition in murine rodents have failed to produce evidence of sensitivity to magnetic cues. Given the central role that a magnetic compass sense plays in the spatial ecology and cognition of non-mammalian vertebrates, and the potential utility that a global/universal reference frame derived from the magnetic field would have in mammals, the question of why responses to magnetic cues have been so difficult to demonstrate reliably is of considerable importance. In this paper, we review evidence that the magnetic compass of murine rodents shares a number of properties with light-dependent compasses in a wide variety of other animals generally believed to be mediated by a radical pair mechanism (RPM) or related quantum process. Consistent with the RPM, we summarize both published and previously unpublished findings suggesting that the murine rodent compass is sensitive to low-level radio frequency (RF) fields. Finally, we argue that the presence of anthropogenic RF fields in laboratory settings, may be an important source of variability in responses of murine rodents to magnetic cues.</p>}},
author = {{Phillips, John and Muheim, Rachel and Painter, Michael and Raines, Jenny and Anderson, Chris and Landler, Lukas and Dommer, Dave and Raines, Adam and Deutschlander, Mark and Whitehead, John and Fitzpatrick, Nicole Edgar and Youmans, Paul and Borland, Chris and Sloan, Kelly and McKenna, Kaitlyn}},
issn = {{0340-7594}},
keywords = {{Low-level RF fields; Magnetic compass; Murine rodents; Radical pair mechanism}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{197--212}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
series = {{Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology}},
title = {{Why is it so difficult to study magnetic compass orientation in murine rodents?}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00359-021-01532-z}},
doi = {{10.1007/s00359-021-01532-z}},
volume = {{208}},
year = {{2022}},
}