• DOI:10.1126/science.1216567
• Corpus ID: 206538783

Neural Correlates of a Magnetic Sense

@article{Wu2012NeuralCO,
  title={Neural Correlates of a Magnetic Sense},
  author={Le-Qing Wu and J. David Dickman},
  journal={Science},
  year={2012},
  volume={336},
  pages={1054 - 1057}
}

• Le-Qing Wu, J. Dickman
• Published 25 May 2012
• Biology
• Science

Magnetic Sense Many species orient and navigate using aspects of Earth's magnetic field. Magnetic receptors have been found in the eyes, ears, and bills of birds, but there has been no clear evidence of the neural mechanism by which magnetic signals are translated into direction. Recording from the brainstem within conscious pigeons, Wu and Dickman (p. 1054, published online 26 April; see the Perspective by Winklhofer) reveal the presence of neurons in the pigeon's brain that encode the inclination angle and intensity of the geomagnetic field. Thus, pigeons—and perhaps other species—can develop an internal model of geopositional latitude to facilitate spatial orientation and navigation based on magnetoreception. Neurons in a pigeon’s brain encode the direction and intensity of the geomagnetic field. Many animals rely on Earth’s magnetic field for spatial orientation and navigation. However, how the brain receives and interprets magnetic field information is unknown. Support for the existence of magnetic receptors in the vertebrate retina, beak, nose, and inner ear has been proposed, and immediate gene expression markers have identified several brain regions activated by magnetic stimulation, but the central neural mechanisms underlying magnetoreception remain unknown. Here we describe neuronal responses in the pigeon’s brainstem that show how single cells encode magnetic field direction, intensity, and polarity; qualities that are necessary to derive an internal model representing directional heading and geosurface location. Our findings demonstrate that there is a neural substrate for a vertebrate magnetic sense.