People may indeed have a sixth sense — for magnetism

Author: Maria Temming / Source: Science News for Students

Birds, fish and some other creatures can sense Earth’s magnetic field. This ability is known as magnetoreception (mag-NEE-toe-ree-SEP-shun).

Many creatures use it navigate. Scientists have long wondered whether humans can do this, too. Now, a study of brain waves suggests people indeed have a “sixth sense” — for magnetism.

In a lab at the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, researchers discovered people form a distinct brain-wave pattern when they are exposed to a magnetic field that is equal in strength to Earth’s . But the pattern emerges only when the field points and moves in a certain way. The researchers shared their findings online March 18 in eNeuro.

The discovery offers evidence that people respond to Earth’s magnetic field without knowing it. It’s not yet clear how our brains might use this information.

Biophysicist Can Xie’s first impression of the study was, “Wow, I cannot believe it!” Previous tests of magnetic sense in humans have had mixed results. This new result is “probably a big step for the human magnetic sense,” Xie says. He works at Peking University in Beijing, China.

Catching waves

During the new experiment, 26 people each sat with their eyes closed in a dark, quiet chamber. It was lined with electrical coils. They created a magnetic field that was the same strength as Earth’s natural magnetic field. Researchers could tweak the electric current running through the coils. This would allow them to point the magnetic field in any direction.

Each person wore a cap that recorded their brain’s electrical activity as the magnetic field changed direction. Scientists compared those brain-wave readings with readings from trials where the magnetic field did not move.

The team focused on the brain’s alpha waves. These dominate in the brain as someone sits still and does nothing. But these signals tend to fade as someone uses their senses to smell, taste, hear or touch.

Sure enough, changes in the magnetic field triggered…

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