Geomagnetic Activity and itsEffects on Sleep Patterns

Christina Glenn

How Do Animals Navigate?

Two Proposed Mechanisms

#1 Biogenic Magnetite- Magnetic material found in certainanimals that is extremely sensitive tooutside magnetic fields

-Animals with biogenic magnetite haveshown the ability to respond to verysmall changes in the earth’sgeomagnetic field (Kirschvink and Gould181-201).

#2 Cryptochrome- A protein migratory birds use tonavigate. It is found in the eyes

-- The method by whichcryptochrome operates iscomplex- but the end result is thatit allows birds to navigate by usingthe earth’s magnetic field, even inadverse weather conditions(Schulten)

How Does This Relate toHumans?

- Both magnetoreceptivecryptochrome and biogenicmagnetite have been found inhumans.

- There is a lot of controversy inthe scientific communityconcerning whether or not thisimpacts a persons ability tosense and respond to thegeomagnetic field

Testing Human Sensitivity via Cryptochrome

- Studies have linkedgeomagnetic activity withfluctuations in melatoninproduction

-Cryptochrome plays animportant role in melatoninproduction

-Linking these two, I narrowed myfocus down to studying sleeppatterns- with the assumptionthat disturbances could becaused by fluctuations inmelatonin production

The Experiment

-30 individuals were asked to fill out a surveyregarding their regular sleeping patterns

-They were then asked to keep a journal for 30days, recording any disturbances that could not beexplained by outside sources (phone ringing, dogsbarking, etc) or medication.

Experiment (cont.)- After the results were returned, the daily number of disturbanceswere recorded. -The number of daily disturbances were compared to the strengthof the daily geomagnetic fluctuations, recorded by the NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a daily A-index.

*A-indices are inblue, and numberof disturbancesare in red

Results

Correlation Coefficient (r) = 0.28Probability = 0.06

Conclusion

This subject matter would be better examinedunder testing methods more sophisticated than adiary survey alone. Because of this, I believe thatthe weak positive correlation and close proximityto statistical significance in a diary surveywarrants further research using more accuratetesting methods in a more formal researchenvironment. A larger sample size and morecontrol measures would also be beneficial.

References

Kirschvink, JL, and JL Gould. "Biogenic Magnetite as a basis formagnetic field detection in animals." Biosystems. 13.3 (1981): 181-201.Web. 21 Apr. 2014

Schulten, Klaus. "Quantum Computing and Animal Navigation."Lectures on Quantum Phenomena. N.p., 13 Apr 2011. Web. 18 Apr2014.