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Shirdhankar RN, Malkemper EP. Cognitive maps and the magnetic sense in vertebrates. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2024; 86:102880. [PMID: 38657284 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2024.102880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2023] [Revised: 03/04/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Navigation requires a network of neurons processing inputs from internally generated cues and external landmarks. Most studies on the neuronal basis of navigation in vertebrates have focused on rats and mice and the canonical senses vision, hearing, olfaction, and somatosensation. Some animals have evolved the ability to sense the Earth's magnetic field and use it for orientation. It can be expected that in these animals magnetic cues are integrated with other sensory cues in the cognitive map. We provide an overview of the behavioral evidence and brain regions involved in magnetic sensing in support of this idea, hoping that this will guide future experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Runita N Shirdhankar
- Research Group Neurobiology of Magnetoreception, Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior - Caesar, Ludwig-Erhard-Allee 2, Bonn 53175, Germany; International Max Planck Research School for Brain and Behavior, Bonn, Germany
| | - E Pascal Malkemper
- Research Group Neurobiology of Magnetoreception, Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior - Caesar, Ludwig-Erhard-Allee 2, Bonn 53175, Germany.
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2
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Zhang L, Malkemper EP. Cryptochromes in mammals: a magnetoreception misconception? Front Physiol 2023; 14:1250798. [PMID: 37670767 PMCID: PMC10475740 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1250798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Cryptochromes are flavoproteins related to photolyases that are widespread throughout the plant and animal kingdom. They govern blue light-dependent growth in plants, control circadian rhythms in a light-dependent manner in invertebrates, and play a central part in the circadian clock in vertebrates. In addition, cryptochromes might function as receptors that allow animals to sense the Earth's magnetic field. As cryptochromes are also present in mammals including humans, the possibility of a magnetosensitive protein is exciting. Here we attempt to provide a concise overview of cryptochromes in mammals. We briefly review their canonical role in the circadian rhythm from the molecular level to physiology, behaviour and diseases. We then discuss their disputed light sensitivity and proposed role in the magnetic sense in mammals, providing three mechanistic hypotheses. Specifically, mammalian cryptochromes could form light-induced radical pairs in particular cellular milieus, act as magnetoreceptors in darkness, or as secondary players in a magnetoreception signalling cascade. Future research can test these hypotheses to investigate if the role of mammalian cryptochromes extends beyond the circadian clock.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - E. Pascal Malkemper
- Max Planck Research Group Neurobiology of Magnetoreception, Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior—caesar, Bonn, Germany
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3
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Pophof B, Henschenmacher B, Kattnig DR, Kuhne J, Vian A, Ziegelberger G. Biological Effects of Electric, Magnetic, and Electromagnetic Fields from 0 to 100 MHz on Fauna and Flora: Workshop Report. HEALTH PHYSICS 2023; 124:39-52. [PMID: 36480584 PMCID: PMC9722389 DOI: 10.1097/hp.0000000000001624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
This report summarizes effects of anthropogenic electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields in the frequency range from 0 to 100 MHz on flora and fauna, as presented at an international workshop held on 5-7 November in 2019 in Munich, Germany. Such fields may originate from overhead powerlines, earth or sea cables, and from wireless charging systems. Animals and plants react differentially to anthropogenic fields; the mechanisms underlying these responses are still researched actively. Radical pairs and magnetite are discussed mechanisms of magnetoreception in insects, birds, and mammals. Moreover, several insects as well as marine species possess specialized electroreceptors, and behavioral reactions to anthropogenic fields have been reported. Plants react to experimental modifications of their magnetic environment by growth changes. Strong adverse effects of anthropogenic fields have not been described, but knowledge gaps were identified; further studies, aiming at the identification of the interaction mechanisms and the ecological consequences, are recommended.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blanka Pophof
- Competence Centre for Electromagnetic Fields, Department of Effects and Risks of Ionizing and Non-Ionizing Radiation, Federal Office for Radiation Protection, 85764 Oberschleißheim, Germany
| | - Bernd Henschenmacher
- Competence Centre for Electromagnetic Fields, Department of Effects and Risks of Ionizing and Non-Ionizing Radiation, Federal Office for Radiation Protection, 85764 Oberschleißheim, Germany
| | - Daniel R. Kattnig
- Department of Physics and Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD, United Kingdom
| | - Jens Kuhne
- Competence Centre for Electromagnetic Fields, Department of Effects and Risks of Ionizing and Non-Ionizing Radiation, Federal Office for Radiation Protection, 85764 Oberschleißheim, Germany
| | - Alain Vian
- Univ Angers, Institut Agro, INRAE, IRHS, SFR QUASAV, F-49000 Angers, France
| | - Gunde Ziegelberger
- Competence Centre for Electromagnetic Fields, Department of Effects and Risks of Ionizing and Non-Ionizing Radiation, Federal Office for Radiation Protection, 85764 Oberschleißheim, Germany
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Phillips J, Muheim R, Painter M, Raines J, Anderson C, Landler L, Dommer D, Raines A, Deutschlander M, Whitehead J, Fitzpatrick NE, Youmans P, Borland C, Sloan K, McKenna K. Why is it so difficult to study magnetic compass orientation in murine rodents? J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2022; 208:197-212. [PMID: 35094127 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-021-01532-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2021] [Revised: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/03/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
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 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.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Phillips
- Dept of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061-0406, USA.
| | - Rachel Muheim
- Dept of Biology, Lund University, Biology Building, 223 62, Lund, Sweden
| | - Michael Painter
- Dept of Biology, Barry University, 11300 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL, 33161, USA
| | - Jenny Raines
- University of Virginia, 409 Lane Road, Charlottesville, VA, 22908, USA
| | - Chris Anderson
- Electrical Engineering Dept, US Naval Academy, 105 Maryland Ave, Annapolis, MD, 21402, USA
| | - Lukas Landler
- Institute of Zoology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Gregor-Mendel-Straße 33/I, 1180, Vienna, Austria
| | - Dave Dommer
- University of Mount Olive, 5001 South Miami Boulevard, Durham, NC, 27703, USA
| | - Adam Raines
- Dept of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061-0406, USA
| | - Mark Deutschlander
- Dept of Biology, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 300 Pulteney St., Geneva, NY, 14456, USA
| | - John Whitehead
- Dept of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061-0406, USA
| | | | - Paul Youmans
- Dept of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061-0406, USA
| | - Chris Borland
- Civic Champs, 642 N. Madison St., Suite 116, Bloomington, IN, 47404, USA
| | - Kelly Sloan
- Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation, 3333 Sanibel Captiva Rd, PO Box 839, Sanibel, FL, 33957, USA
| | - Kaitlyn McKenna
- Dept of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061-0406, USA
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Benediktová K, Adámková J, Svoboda J, Painter MS, Bartoš L, Nováková P, Vynikalová L, Hart V, Phillips J, Burda H. Magnetic alignment enhances homing efficiency of hunting dogs. eLife 2020; 9:55080. [PMID: 32539933 PMCID: PMC7297537 DOI: 10.7554/elife.55080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2020] [Accepted: 05/27/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite anecdotal reports of the astonishing homing abilities in dogs, their homing strategies are not fully understood. We equipped 27 hunting dogs with GPS collars and action cams, let them freely roam in forested areas, and analyzed components of homing in over 600 trials. When returning to the owner (homewards), dogs either followed their outbound track (‘tracking’) or used a novel route (‘scouting’). The inbound track during scouting started mostly with a short (about 20 m) run along the north-south geomagnetic axis, irrespective of the actual direction homewards. Performing such a ‘compass run’ significantly increased homing efficiency. We propose that this run is instrumental for bringing the mental map into register with the magnetic compass and to establish the heading of the animal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kateřina Benediktová
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Praha, Czech Republic
| | - Jana Adámková
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Praha, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Svoboda
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Praha, Czech Republic
| | - Michael Scott Painter
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Praha, Czech Republic.,Biology Department, Barry University, Miami, United States
| | - Luděk Bartoš
- Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Praha, Czech Republic.,Department of Ethology and Companion Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, Praha, Czech Republic
| | - Petra Nováková
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Praha, Czech Republic
| | - Lucie Vynikalová
- Department of Zoology and Fisheries, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, Praha, Czech Republic
| | - Vlastimil Hart
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Praha, Czech Republic
| | - John Phillips
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, United States
| | - Hynek Burda
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Praha, Czech Republic
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6
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Martini S, Begall S, Findeklee T, Schmitt M, Malkemper EP, Burda H. Dogs can be trained to find a bar magnet. PeerJ 2018; 6:e6117. [PMID: 30588405 PMCID: PMC6301327 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.6117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2018] [Accepted: 11/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Magnetoreception, the ability to sense the Earth’s magnetic field (MF), is a widespread phenomenon in the animal kingdom. In 1966, the first report on a magnetosensitive vertebrate, the European robin (Erithacus rubecula), was published. After that, numerous further species of different taxa have been identified to be magnetosensitive as well. Recently, it has been demonstrated that domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) prefer to align their body axis along the North–South axis during territorial marking under calm MF conditions and that they abandon this preference when the Earth’s MF is unstable. In a further study conducting a directional two-choice-test, dogs showed a spontaneous preference for the northern direction. Being designated as putatively magnetosensitive and being also known as trainable for diverse choice and search tests, dogs seem to be suitable model animals for a direct test of magnetoreception: learning to find a magnet. Using operant conditioning dogs were trained to identify the MF of a bar magnet in a three-alternative forced-choice experiment. We excluded visual cues and used control trials with food treats to test for the role of olfaction in finding the magnet. While 13 out of 16 dogs detected the magnet significantly above chance level (53–73% success rate), none of the dogs managed to do so in finding the food treat (23–40% success rate). In a replication of the experiment under strictly blinded conditions five out of six dogs detected the magnet above chance level (53–63% success rate). These experiments support the existence of a magnetic sense in domestic dogs. Whether the sense enables dogs to perceive MFs as weak as the Earth’s MF, if they use it for orientation, and by which mechanism the fields are perceived remain open questions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabine Martini
- Department of General Zoology, Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Sabine Begall
- Department of General Zoology, Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.,Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | | | - Marcus Schmitt
- Department of General Zoology, Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - E Pascal Malkemper
- Department of General Zoology, Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.,Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Hynek Burda
- Department of General Zoology, Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.,Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
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8
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Malewski S, Malkemper EP, Sedláček F, Šumbera R, Caspar KR, Burda H, Begall S. Attracted by a magnet: Exploration behaviour of rodents in the presence of magnetic objects. Behav Processes 2018; 151:11-15. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2018.02.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2017] [Revised: 02/09/2018] [Accepted: 02/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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