Abstract
Magnetoreception may be said to have occurred when a specific change in the ambient magnetic field, or in the orientation of an organism relative to the ambient magnetic field, is converted within the organism into a characteristic pattern of nerve impulses. In most cases we should expect that these nerve impulses would reach the central nervous system. We might also expect that, upon integration with other information, there may be some form of behavioral or other physiological response that could then be measured. The site at which the ambient magnetic field is converted into nerve impulses may be termed a magnetoreceptor.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Alexander, H. S., 1962, Biomagnetics—The biological effect of magnetic fields, Am. J. Med. Electron. 1:181–187.
Aneshansley, D. J., and Larkin, T. S., 1981, V-test is not a statistical test of “homeward” direction, Nature 293:239.
Baker, R. R., 1980, Goal orientation by blindfolded humans after long-distance displacement: Possible involvement of a magnetic sense, Science 210:555–557.
Baker, R. R., 1981, Human Navigation and the Sixth Sense, Hodder & Stoughton, London.
Baker, R. R., 1982, Migration: Paths through Time and Space, Hodder & Stoughton, London.
Baker, R. R., 1984a, Sinal magnetite and direction finding, Phys. Technol. 15:30–36.
Baker, R. R., 1984b, Bird Navigation: The Solution of a Mystery?, Hodder & Stoughton, London.
Baker, R. R., 1985, Exploration and navigation: The foundation of vertebrate migration, in: Migration: Mechanisms and Adaptive Significance (M. A. Rankin, ed.), Port Aransas Marine Laboratory, Port Aransas.
Baker, R. R., and Mather, J. G., 1982, A comparative approach to bird navigation: Implications of parallel studies on mammals, in: Avian Navigation (F. Papi and H. G. Wallraff, eds.), Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 308–312.
Baker, R. R., Mather, J. G., and Kennaugh, J. H., 1982, The human compass?, EOS 63:156.
Baker, R. R., Mather, J. G., and Kennaugh, J. H., 1983, Magnetic bones in human sinuses, Nature 301:78–80.
Barlow, J. S., 1964, Inertial navigation as a basis for animal navigation, J. Theor. Biol. 6:76–117.
Barnothy, M. F. (ed.), 1964, Biological Effects of Magnetic Fields, Volume 1, Plenum Press, New York.
Bassett, C. A. L., Pawluk, R. J., and Pilla, A. A., 1974, Augmentation of bone repair by inductively coupled electromagnetic fields, Science 184:575–577.
Batschelet, E., 1981, Circular Statistics in Biology, Academic Press, New York.
Beischer, D. E., 1969, Vectorcardiogram and aortic blood flow of squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) in a strong superconductive electromagnet, in: Biological Effects of Magnetic Fields, Volume 2 (M. F. Barnothy, ed.), Plenum Press, New York, pp. 241–259.
Beischer, D. E., 1971, The null magnetic field as reference for the study of geomagnetic directional effects in animals and man, Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 188:324–330.
Beischer, D. E., and Knepton, J. C., 1944, Influence of strong magnetic fields on the electrocardiogram of squirrel monkeys, Aerosp. Med. 35:939–945.
Beischer, D. E., and Reno, V. R., 1971, Magnetic fields and man; where do we stand today?, in: AGARD Conference Proceedings N. 95, Part III; Special Biophysical Problems in Aerospace Medicine (A. M. Pfister, ed.), pp. C-12–1-C-12–7.
Bird, C., 1979, The Divining Hand: The 500-year-old Mystery of Dowsing, Dutton, New York.
Blakemore, R. P., 1975, Magnetotactic bacteria, Science 190:377–379.
Caffey, J., 1978, Pediatric X-ray Diagnosis, 7th ed., Year Book, Chicago.
Drinker, C. K., and Thompson, R. M., 1921, Does the magnetic field constitute an industrial hazard?, J. Ind. Hyg. 3:117.
Frankel, R. B., Blakemore, R. P., and Wolfe, R. S., 1979, Magnetite in freshwater magnetotactic bacteria, Science 203:1355.
Gärling, T., Böök, A., and Lindberg, E., 1979, The acquisition and use of an internal representation of the spatial layout of the environment during locomotion, Man-Environ. Syst. 9:200–208.
Gatty, H., 1958, Nature is your guide, Collins, London.
Gould, J. L., 1980, Homing in on the home front, Psychol. Today 14:62–71.
Gould, J. L., and Able, K. P., 1981, Human homing: An elusive phenomenon, Science 212:1061–1063.
Gould, J. L., Kirschvink, J. L., and Deffeyes, K. S., 1978, Bees have magnetic remanence, Science 201:1026–1028.
Harvalik, Z. V., 1978, Anatomical localization of human detection of weak electromagnetic radiation: Experiments with dowsers, Physiol. Chem. Phys. 10:525–534.
Howard, I. P., and Templeton, W. B., 1966, Human Spatial Orientation, Wiley, New York.
Hudson, W. H., 1922, On the sense of direction, Cent. Mag. 104:693–701.
Jaccard, P., 1931, Le sens de direction et l‘orientation lointain chez l‘homme, Payot, Paris.
Juurmaa, J., 1966, An analysis of the ability for orientation and operations with spatial relationships in general, Work Environ. Health 2:45–52.
Keeton, W. T., Larkin, T. S., and Windsor, D. M., 1974, Normal fluctuations in the earth‘s magnetic field influence pigeon orientation, J. Comp. Physiol. 95:95–103.
Ketchen, E. E., Porter, W. E., and Bolton, N. E., 1978, The biological effects of magnetic fields on man, Am. Ind. Hyg. Assoc. J. 39:1–11.
Kholodov, J. A., Alexandrovskaya, S. N., Lukjanova, S. N., and Udarova, N. S., 1969, Investigations of the reactions of mammalian brain to static magnetic fields, in: Biological Effects of Magnetic Fields, Volume 2 (M. F. Barnothy, ed.), Plenum Press, New York, pp. 215–219.
Kirschvink, J. L., 1981a, Biogenic magnetite (Fe3O4): A ferrimagnetic mineral in bacteria, animals, and man, in: Ferrites: Proceedings of the International Conference Japan, 1980, pp. 135–137.
Kirschvink, J. L., 1981b, Ferromagnetic crystals (magnetite?) in human tissue, J. Exp. Biol. 92:333–335.
Kirschvink, J. L., and Gould, J. L., 1981, Biogenic magnetite as a basis for magnetic field sensitivity in animals, BioSystems 13:181–201.
Kotleba, J., Bielek, J., Glos, J., and Bárta, J., 1973, O možnom vplyve magnetického pol‘a zeme na spánok človeka, Cs. Fysiol. 22:459–460.
Kuterbach, D. A., Walcott, B., Reeder, R. J., and Frankel, R. B., 1982, Iron-containing cells in the honey bee (Apis mellifera), Science 218:695–697.
Larkin, T. S., and Keeton, W. T., 1976, Bar magnets mask the effect of normal magnetic disturbances on pigeon orientation, J. Comp. Physiol. 110:227–231.
Lewis, D., 1972, We, the Navigators, Australian National University Press, Canberra.
Lord, F. E., 1941, A study of spatial orientation of children, J. Educ. Res. 34:481–505.
Lowenstam, H. A., 1962, Magnetite in denticle capping in recent chitons (Polyplacophora), Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 73:435–438.
Malmstrom, V. H., 1976, Knowledge of magnetism in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, Nature 259:390–391.
Maresh, M. M., 1940, Paranasal sinuses from birth to late adolescence, Am. J. Dis. Child. 60:58.
Mather, J. G., and Baker, R. R., 1981, Magnetic sense of direction in woodmice for route-based navigation, Nature 291:152–155.
Mather, J. G., Baker, R. R., and Kennaugh, J. H., 1982, Magnetic field detection by small mammals, EOS 63:156.
Murayama, M., 1965, Orientation of sickled erythrocytes in a magnetic field, Nature 206:420–422.
Phillips, J. B., and Adler, K., 1978, Directional and discriminatory responses of salamanders to weak magnetic fields, in: Animal Migration, Navigation, and Homing (K. Schmidt-Koenig and W. T. Keeton, eds.), Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 325–333.
Rocard, Y., 1964, Le Signal du Sourcier, Dunod, Paris.
Schneider, F., 1961, Beeinflussung der Activät des Maikafers durch Veranderung der gegenseitigen Lage Magnetischer und elektrischer Felder, Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges. 33:232–237.
Southern, W. E., 1971, Gull orientation by magnetic cues: A hypothesis revisited, Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 188:295–311.
Srivastava, B. J., and Saxena, S., 1980, Geomagnetic-biological correlations: Some new results, Indian J. Radio Space Phys. 9:121–126.
Towe, K. M., and Lowenstam, H. A., 1967, Ultrastructure and development of iron mineralization in the radular teeth of Chryptochiton stelleri (Mollusca), J. Ultrastruct. Res. 17:1–13.
Viguier, C., 1882, Le sens de l‘orientation et ses organs chez les animaux et chez l‘homme, Rev. Philomath. 14:1–36.
von Lucannas, F., 1924, On the sense of locality in men and animals, Rev. Revs. 70:218.
Walcott, C., 1982, Is there evidence for a magnetic map in homing pigeons?, in: Avian Navigation (F. Papi and H. G. Wallraff, eds.), Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 99–108.
Wiltschko, R., and Wiltschko, W., 1978, Relative importance of stars and magnetic field for the accuracy of orientation in night-migrating birds, Oikos 30:195–206.
Worchel, P., 1951, Space perception and orientation in the blind, Psychol. Monogr. 65:3–32.
Yorke, E. D., 1981, Sensitivity of pigeons to small magnetic field variations, J. Theor. Biol. 89:533–537.
Zusne, L., and Allen, B., 1981, Magnetic sense in humans? Percept. Mot. Skills 52:910.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1985 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Baker, R.R. (1985). Magnetoreception by Man and Other Primates. In: Kirschvink, J.L., Jones, D.S., MacFadden, B.J. (eds) Magnetite Biomineralization and Magnetoreception in Organisms. Topics in Geobiology, vol 5. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0313-8_26
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0313-8_26
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-7992-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-0313-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive