AGILITY, GNOSIS, AND GRAPHAESTHESIA FOR THE TOES AND FINGERS IN CHILDREN: NORMATIVE DATA (AGES 7-14 YEARS)

The differential representation of the toes/feet and fingers/hands along the medial and lateral surfaces of the cerebral cortices, respectively, may have diagnostic utility. Normative data for errors for toe and finger graphaesthesia and gnosis, as well as foot and finger agility, were collected for 86 children (ages 7 to 14). The fingers were more agile than the feet, and the right side of the body was more agile than the left side, regardless of age. A marked improvement in toe gnosis, but not in finger gnosis occurred in children after 11-12 years of age. A statistically significant interaction between laterality and gender was due to the greater numbers of errors for both toe and finger gnosis, displayed by girls for the left sides of their bodies compared to their right sides. This discrepancy was not significant for boys.

BRIEF EXPOSURES TO THETA-BURST MAGNETIC FIELDS IMPAIR THE CONSOLIDATION OF FOOD-INDUCED CONDITIONED PLACE PREFERENCE

Theta-burst magnetic fields (1 microT) designed to mimic electrical stimuli employed in vitro to affect long-term potentiation have been previously shown to impair the acquisition of conditioned fear. In the current study, the authors were interested in investigating whether similar magnetic fields could affect the consolidation of food-induced conditioned place preference. Fourteen male Wistar rats were exposed to a theta-burst magnetic field (1 s pulse of 5 trains of an LTP-evoking pattern) continuously or with either a 5 s or 10 s interstimulus interval for 15 min immediately following 6 daily conditioning trials (15 min/day) in a place preference apparatus. Testing demonstrated the durations in the food-paired chamber was significantly shorter for all of the magnetic field-exposed groups compared to the sham-exposed group (they remained for longer periods in the food-paired chamber, typical of normal rats). In addition, the group exposed continuously to the LTP-magnetic field (1-ms interstimulus duration) displayed the least time in the food-paired chamber. The treatments explained 80% of the variance in durations within the experimental setting. These results suggest that exposures to theta-burst magnetic fields elicit amnesic effects for contextual stimuli.

INCREASED FEELINGS OF THE SENSED PRESENCE AND INCREASED GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY AT THE TIME OF THE EXPERIENCE DURING EXPOSURES TO TRANSCEREBRAL WEAK COMPLEX MAGNETIC FIELDS

In 2 separate experiments involving 39 subjects the incidence of sensing a presence or Sentient Being while being exposed to weak complex magnetic fields over the right hemisphere was moderately correlated with increased global geomagnetic activity during the 3-h periods of the experiences. Analyses of magnetometer values near the laboratory indicated the intensity of the east-west component of the geomagnetic field had been increasing consistently at about 1 pT/s for at least 10 min for a cumulative change of about 15 to 20 nT. The ratios of the durations of alpha rhythms over the temporal lobes compared to the occipital lobes were correlated significantly with both increased geomagnetic activity and the reports of a presence. Removal of the shared variance between the sensed presence and various psychometric inferences of temporal lobe sensitivity and the history of dissociation increased and decreased, respectively, the strength of the partial correlations between geomagnetic activity and the reports of a sensed presence. The results suggest the culturally and historically ubiquitous phenomena of sensed presences are generated by right hemispheric processes that once enhanced by a variety of stimuli, including weak complex magnetic fields, can be encouraged by increased global geomagnetic activity.

Ambulatory effects of brief exposures to magnetic fields changing orthogonally in space over time

In a within-subject design adult male rats were exposed for 15 min once per day or night to one of two patterns of complex magnetic fields (0.5 to 1 micro T) rotated in space once every 2 s or 20 s through each of the three spatial dimensions and then simultaneously through all three dimensions. Open field behavior was then measured for ambulation, defecation, and grooming. The rats displayed about twice the ambulation after when the fields had been present compared to when they had not. The burst-firing field elicited the greatest ambulation when presented during the night whereas the frequency-modulated pattern elicited the greatest ambulation when presented during the day. These results suggest that robust behavioral changes can occur when rats are exposed for 15 min to complex spatiotemporal configurations of weak magnetic fields.

Lagged association between geomagnetic activity and diminished nocturnal pain thresholds in mice

A wide variety of behaviors in several species has been statistically associated with the natural variations in geomagnetism. To examine whether changes in geomagnetic activity are associated with pain thresholds, adult mice were exposed to a hotplate paradigm once weekly for 52 weeks during the dark cycle. Planetary A index values from the previous 6 days of a given hotplate session were correlated with the mean response latency for subjects to the thermal stimulus. We found that hotplate latency was significantly (P < 0.05) and inversely correlated (rho = -0.25) with the daily geomagnetic intensity 3 days prior to testing. Therefore, if the geomagnetic activity was greater 3 days before a given hotplate trial, subjects tended to exhibit shorter response latencies, suggesting lower pain thresholds or less analgesia. These results are supported by related experimental findings and suggest that natural variations in geomagnetic intensity may influence nociceptive behaviors in mice.

Experimental facilitation of the sensed presence is predicted by the specific patterns of the applied magnetic fields, not by suggestibility: re-analyses of 19 experiments

If all experiences are generated by brain activity, then experiences of God and spirits should also be produced by the appropriate cerebral stimulation. During the last 15 years experiments have shown that the sensed presence of a "Sentient Being" can be reliably evoked by very specific temporal patterns of weak (<1 microT) transcerebral magnetic fields applied across the temporoparietal region of the two hemispheres. Recently Granqvist et al. (2005) attributed these effects to suggestibility and exotic beliefs. Re-analyses with additional data for 407 subjects (19 experiments) showed that the magnetic configurations, not the subjects' exotic beliefs or suggestibility, were responsible for the experimental facilitation of sensing a presence. On the other hand, the subjects' histories of sensed presences before exposure to the experimental setting were moderately correlated with exotic beliefs and temporal lobe sensitivity. Several recent experiments have shown that the side attributed to the presence at the time of the experience is sensitive to the temporal parameters of the fields, the hemisphere to which they are maximized, and the person's a priori beliefs. The importance of verifying the specific timing and temporal pattern of the software-generated fields and following an effective protocol is emphasized.

Weak, physiologically patterned magnetic fields do not affect maze performance in normal rats, but disrupt seized rats normalized with ketamine: possible support for a neuromatrix concept?

The concept of a neuromatrix as a determinant of behavior proposes that complex neuroelectromagnetic patterns supported by specific spatial configurations of neurons underlie the generation of behaviors. When the pattern of neuronal connectivity is changed, as occurs during limbic epilepsy, neuroelectromagnetic patterns change in parallel to sustain behavioral output. Thus, a testable prediction of the neuromatrix concept is that the "normal" behaviors of animals with markedly reorganized neuroelectromagnetic patterns are vulnerable to specific stimuli that are ineffective when applied to a normal population. Because rats treated with ketamine after being induced to seize with pilocarpine exhibit behaviors indistinguishable from those of control populations despite marked changes in brain structure, they represent an ideal population in which to examine this hypothesis. Ketamine-treated pilocarpine-seized rats and normal rats were exposed continuously either to a complex sequence magnetic field or to control conditions during the acquisition of a radial arm maze task for 8 consecutive days. After 14 days of subsequent exposure to a frequency-modulated field (7-500 nT), during which time there was no training, the rats that had been induced to seize and had been exposed continuously to this magnetic configuration exhibited conspicuously slower response durations per arm than rats that had been induced to seize and exposed to control conditions or normal rats that had been exposed to either magnetic fields or control conditions. Thus, the behaviors of rats who have sustained multiple, discrete injuries throughout the brain may be seriously disrupted by the appropriate pattern of exogenous weak magnetic fields. Our results represent the first empirical support for the concept of the neuromatrix.

Extreme obesity in female rats following prepuberal induction of lithium-pilocarpine seizures and a single injection of acepromazine

Seizures were induced in female Wistar albino rats at either 35 or 55 days of age with a single systemic injection of lithium (3 mEq/kg) and pilocarpine (30 mg/kg); the rats were then treated with the atypical neuroleptic acepromazine (25 mg/kg). These rats manifested progressive weight gain for the rest of their lives. The effect was conspicuous by casual observation 6 weeks after treatment and occurred primarily in those rats that later developed spontaneous seizures. After 1 year, the rats were obese (>1000 g). Such weight gains, associated with almost three times the serum triglyceride levels, were not observed in male rats and have not been observed in hundreds of female rats that received this treatment as adults. Single postseizure injections of ketamine rather than acepromazine did not produce this obesity; the weights of these rats were similar to those of normal littermates. These results indicate that a single injection of a neuroleptic during limbic seizures before puberty can produce neuronal alterations that contribute to a lifetime of obesity.

Sucrose ingestion decreases seizure onset time in female rats treated with lithium and pilocarpine

To extend previous work concerning diet and overt seizures in rats, we tested the hypothesis that ingestion of 10% sucrose-water could reduce seizure onset time (SOT) in rats given lithium and pilocarpine. We found that female but not male rats given free access to a 10% sucrose-water solution for 3 weeks exhibited shorter SOTs than age- and sex-matched control subjects. A separate experiment determined that SOT was significantly reduced whether female rats were provided 1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks of free access to sucrose. Moreover, the daily volume of sucrose ingested was significantly correlated (r=-0.42) with SOT regardless of the duration of sucrose treatment (in weeks). These findings suggest that a diet supplemented with sugar can facilitate the emergence of behavioral seizures in female rats given lithium and pilocarpine. We discuss the potential role of dopamine in mediating the sucrose-induced changes in SOT.

Sudden death in epileptic rats exposed to nocturnal magnetic fields that simulate the shape and the intensity of sudden changes in geomagnetic activity: an experiment in response to Schnabel, Beblo and May

To test the hypothesis that sudden unexplained death (SUD) in some epileptic patients is related to geomagnetic activity we exposed rats in which limbic epilepsy had been induced to experimentally produced magnetic fields designed to simulate sudden storm commencements (SSCs). Prior studies with rats had shown that sudden death in groups of rats in which epilepsy had been induced months earlier was associated with the occurrence of SSCs and increased geomagnetic activity during the previous night. Schnabel et al. [(2000) Neurology 54:903-908] found no relationship between SUD in human patients and geomagnetic activity. A total of 96 rats were exposed to either 500, 50, 10-40 nT or sham (less than 10 nT) magnetic fields for 6 min every hour between midnight and 0800 hours (local time) for three successive nights. The shape of the complex, amplitude-modulated magnetic fields simulated the shape and structure of an average SSC. The rats were then seized with lithium and pilocarpine and the mortality was monitored. Whereas 10% of the rats that had been exposed to the sham field died within 24 h, 60% of the rats that had been exposed to the experimental magnetic fields simulating natural geomagnetic activity died (P<.001) during this period. These results suggest that correlational analyses between SUD in epileptic patients and increased geomagnetic activity can be simulated experimentally in epileptic rats and that potential mechanisms might be testable directly.

Lithium ion "cyclotron resonance" magnetic fields decrease seizure onset times in lithium-pilocarpine seized rats

The cyclotron resonance equation predicts that the frequency of an applied magnetic field that might optimally interact with a single ion species may be computed as a function of the charge-to-mass ratio of the ion and the strength of the background static magnetic field. The present study was undertaken to discern the applicability of this equation for optimizing lithium ion utilization in the rat, as inferred by the predicted magnetic "ion resonance "field-induced shift of lithium's dose-dependent curve for seizure onset times (SOTs) when combined with the cholinergic agent pilocarpine. Groups of rats were administered 1.5 thru 3 mEq/kg lithium chloride (in 0.5 mEq/kg increments) and exposed to reference conditions or to one of three intensities (70 nanoTesla, 0.8 microTesla, or 25 microTesla) of a 85 Hz magnetic field calculated to resonate with lithium ions given the background static geomagnetic field of approximately 38,000 nanoTesla (0.38 Gauss). A statistically significant quadratic relationship for SOT as a function of magnetic field intensity (irrespective of lithium dose) was noted: this U-shaped function was characterized by equal SOTs for the reference and 25 microTesla groups, with a trend toward shorter SOTs for the 70 nanoTesla and 0.8 microTesla groups. Although not predicted by the equations, this report extends other findings suggestive of discrete intensity windows for which magnetic field frequencies derived from the cyclotron ion resonance equation may affect ion activity.

Electrophysiological and quantitative electroencephalographic measurements after treatment by transcerebral magnetic fields generated by compact disc through a computer sound card: the Shakti treatment

Quantitative electroencephalographic activity over the left and right frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes was obtained on 4 successive weeks in 12 subjects before they were exposed cerebrally for 30 min to one of two configurations of weak complex magnetic fields or to a sham-field condition. The two configurations were Shakti (c Todd Murphy) and the set of 4 solenoids (Koren boxes) generating a burst-firing magnetic field through the temporal lobes. Compared to baseline measurements there were no statistically significant differences in treatments for relative changes in power over these regions within the delta, theta, low alpha, beta, or gamma ranges. However within the high alpha range (10.5 Hz to 13 Hz), there was a significant interaction between session and type of treatment that was due primarily to the Shakti treatment. These changes were congruent with the subjective experiences reported by some users of the technology.

Suppression of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in rats by 50-nT, 7-Hz amplitude-modulated nocturnal magnetic fields depends on when after inoculation the fields are applied

Female Lewis rats (n = 88) were inoculated with an emulsion of spinal cord and complete Freund's adjuvant. They were then exposed in 11 separate blocks of experiments over a year period for approximately 6 min every hour between midnight and 08:00 h during post-inoculation nights 1-7, 8-16, 1-16, or 9 and 10 to 50-nT, 7-Hz, amplitude-modulated magnetic fields or to sham field (control) conditions. Compared to the control rats those exposed to the magnetic fields for nights 1-7 and nights 9-10 displayed more severe clinical symptoms while those exposed for nights 1-16 or 8-16 showed less severe symptoms. There was a strong correlation between the severity of the clinical symptoms in the control groups and the global geomagnetic activity 9 and 10 days after inoculation. These results suggest that the immunosuppressive effects of weak nocturnal magnetic fields may depend upon when they are applied during various stages in the development of a disease.

Students' perceptions of dangerousness to public safety of paraphrases from the Koran, New Testament, Book of Mormon, Tibetan Book of the Dead, and Egyptian Book of the Dead presented as patients' beliefs

In one experiment 40 first-year psychology students were asked to judge dangerousness to society of 10 fictitious patients who professed beliefs about an "alien." The statements were actually paraphrases primarily concerning death and killing from the New Testament, the Koran, the Book of Mormon, the Egyptian Book of the Dead and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. In a second experiment 39 first-year psychology students were asked to rate the dangerousness of the verbatim statements with their sources identified. In the first experiment, statements from the Koran, which involved accessing a positive afterlife by killing nonbelievers in the name of a deity, were ranked as more dangerous. The differences between the sources accommodated 33% of the variance in the rankings for dangerousness. The group of students who were given the original statements and their actual sources ranked the statements from the New Testament and the Koran as significantly less dangerous than those who were told the statements were from patients. These results suggest that statements about killing and death may be rated as less dangerous if the person believes the source was a "sacred text."

Emergence of spontaneous seizures during the year following lithium/pilocarpine-induced epilepsy and neuronal loss within the right temporal cortices

Thirty days after the induction of seizures in 16 rats with lithium (3 mEq/kg) and pilocarpine (30 mg/kg), the numbers of episodes of motor seizures (rapid forelimb clonus) during daily 10-minute observational periods were recorded for 11 months. The proportions of neuronal loss were ranked using two methods by light microscopy for all structures between the posterior and anterior commissures. Amounts of damage within the dentate gyrus, hilus (CA4), and CA3 field were most strongly correlated with numbers of seizures per month about 6 months before the brains were removed. The strongest correlations occurred between the amounts of damage within the right temporal cortices, even after the variance associated with damage within the dentate gyrus had been removed, and the numbers of seizures during the last 2 months. These results may explain the greater proportion of spontaneous seizures that begin with left side forelimb clonus and suggest a particular sensitivity of the right side of the brain to either their initiation or their consequences.

Thermal analgesia induced by 30-min exposure to 1 μT burst-firing magnetic fields is strongly enhanced in a dose-dependent manner by the α2 agonist clonidine in rats

Most of the research concerning analgesia following brief exposures to physiologically patterned weak magnetic fields has focused upon their morphine-related properties. However, the alpha-adrenergic system interacts with morphine-induced analgesia. In the present study we found that prazosin, phenylephrine, and yohimbine did not augment the robust analgesia to thermal stimuli in rats evoked by whole-body exposures to a 1 microT, burst-firing magnetic field presented once every 4s for 30 min. However, the alpha2 agonist clonidine enhanced the field-induced analgesia in a dose-dependent manner that reflected a receptor-saturation response. Potentiation between the field and clonidine was evident at 0.2 mg/kg and approached asymptote at 1 mg/kg. The combination of the effects from exposure to the magnetic field and the clonidine explained more than 75% of the variance in the change in nociceptive thresholds from baseline levels. The possibility that properly patterned weak magnetic fields could be a powerful adjunct to pharmacological treatments of pain is considered.

Weekly Treatments with a Burst-Firing Magnetic Field Alters Behavior in the Elevated plus Maze after Two Sessions

In a split-litter design, rats were either injected with 15 mg/kg of clomipramine or saline from postnatal Days 8 through 21. Other rats from the same litters were not injected. When the rats were 90 days of age, the rats were tested once per week for five weeks in an elevated plus maze that contained two open arms (no walls) and two walled arms. Following each test, they were exposed (total of 4 exposures) for 30 min. to a burst-firing magnetic field (1 microTesla) that has been shown to reduce depression in human beings. After two treatments, the rats exposed to the burst-firing fields spent about half the amount of time in the open arms compared to the sham-field exposed rats. The interaction between adult treatment and whether the rats had received the antidepressant before weaning was not significant statistically. These results suggest that at least two weekly sessions may be required before significant changes in behavior occur after weekly 30-min. exposures to these potentially “therapeutic” magnetic fields.

Geomagnetic Activity during the Previous Day is Correlated with Increased Consumption of Sucrose during Subsequent Days: Is Increased Geomagnetic Activity Aversive?

In five separate blocks over a period of several months for 33 female rats the amount of geomagnetic activity during the day before ad libitum access to 10% sucrose or water was positively correlated with the volume of sucrose consumed per 24-hr. period. The strength of the correlation (.62 to .77) declined over the subsequent 10 days from between .12 to –.18 and resembled an extinction curve. In a subsequent experiment four rats exposed to 5 nT to 8 nT, 0.5-Hz magnetic fields that ceased for 30 min. once every 4 hr. for 4 days consumed 11% more sucrose than the four rats exposed to no field. We suggest that the initial consumption of 10% sucrose may have been reinforced because it diminished the aversive physiological effects associated with the increased geomagnetic activity. However, over the subsequent days, as geomagnetic activity decreased or habituation occurred, negative reinforcement did not maintain this behavior.

Geophysical Variables and Behavior: C. Increased Geomagnetic Activity on Days of Commercial Air Crashes Attributed to Computer or Pilot Error but Not Mechanical Failure

Global geomagnetic activity (aa values) for the days of crashes of airplanes and for each of the three days before and after the crashes were compared for 373 events (years 1940 through 2002) attributed to unknown factors, mechanical errors, electronic/computer failures or pilot errors. Interactions between days and classifications of the crashes were due to the significantly greater geomagnetic activity on the days of crashes attributed to pilot or computer error but not to mechanical or unknown factors. Successive temporal analyses indicated that the elevated activity on the days of crashes attributed to pilot error have not changed over time, but there was an increase in those attributed to electronic errors after 1965. No more than 9% of the variance in geomagnetic activity on the days of the crashes was associated with the type of crash. These results are consistent with our hypothesis that some factor or factors associated with relative increases in geomagnetic activity may affect complex electronic systems composed of either silica (computer) or carbon (brain) aggregates.