A community science project to search for magnetosensitive neurons
Many species across the animal kingdom are said to use the Earth’s magnetic field for orientation and navigation. However, the mechanisms by which information about magnetic fields enters the nervous system remain unknown. Only few reports exist of neural activity related to magnetoreception, and they have been difficult to replicate.
To search for neural circuits involved in magnetosensation, we aim to collect recordings of neural activity from as many brain areas and as many species as possible, while the animal is exposed to changing magnetic fields. In this way, we hope to discover neural circuits that respond to magnetic fields, and eventually trace the signal back to the magnetoreceptors.
We need your help! If, in the course of your work, you record neural activity—any brain area, any species, any recording modality—you can join our search. All you need to do is devote a few minutes after the end of your regular experimental session: Continue recording from those same neurons while presenting magnetic stimuli using a device we will send you. Then you send us the results, and we analyze the data, or you can do so yourself. With luck, the collective efforts of the search participants will yield evidence for neuronal traces of magnetoreception, and we can collectively publish an exciting paper. And if not, we will publish our negative results together.
If you are interested, please first read our Collaboration plan, then fill out the Participation form.
For an example of how we are currently thinking about data analysis, there is a Technical paper on spectral analysis.
If you have additional questions, feel free to reach out directly to Daniel Wagenaar or Markus Meister.