Geophysical variables and behavior: XCVII. Increased proportions of the left-sided sense of presence induced experimentally by right hemispheric application of specific (frequency-modulated) complex magnetic fields

12 young men and women who were not aware of the stimulus order were exposed to 8 configurations of weak 1 microTesla) magnetic fields for 5 min. each, applied primarily over the right parietotemporal region. The numbers of sensed presences along the left side, right side, or front/back, as inferred by button presses at the time of the experience, were recorded. There were significantly (eta2= .37) more experiences along the left side than the right side during the presentations of a frequency-modulated (Thomas) pattern with 3-msec. point durations compared to the presentation of its temporally reversed structure or to patterns that were more or less complex. 40% of all left-sided presences occurred during the 5-min. presentation of this specific frequency-modulated pattern. These results suggest that the subjective lateralization of a sensed presence to the left during right hemispheric stimulation by weak magnetic fields is enhanced by the specific temporal structure of the applied field.

Voluminous sucrose consumption in female rats: increased "nippiness" during periods of sucrose removal and possible oestrus periodicity

In a two-bottle paradigm in which water and 10% sucrose water were always available, female rats drank about 200 cc of the sugar water (about 65 g of sucrose/kg) per day for 4 wk. There were no significant decreases in consumption over this time. In Exp. 2 female rats singly housed were given two bottles containing water for 1 wk. and then a bottle containing water and a bottle containing 15% sucrose for the next week for 6 wk. When sucrose was available, the rats ate 33% more rat chow. When sucrose was removed, the rats displayed more episodes of biting a stimulus when the food cubes were being removed for daily measurements. Some females exhibited a marked 4- to 5-day periodicity in sucrose (7.5%) consumption. The persistent and voluminous consumption of sucrose water and enhanced agonistic-like behavior during periods of withdrawal suggests the presence of a robust phenomenon with potential dinical applications to the challenge of addiction.

Bilingual men but not women display less left ear but not right ear accuracy during dichotic listening compared to monolinguals

Thirty monolingual university men and women and 33 bilingual university men and women who had learned English after 5 years of age were administered Roberts' Dichotic Word Listening Test. The bilingual men committed twice the numbers of errors for words presented to the left ear but not to the right ear or to both ears when compared to the bilingual women, the monolingual men, or the monolingual women. The latter three groups did not differ significantly from each other. This interaction between sex and language history explained about 16% of the variance in the numbers of errors for the left ear. The results are related to other studies that showed men who acquired English after the age of 5 years exhibited a relative weakness for verbal memory but not for figural memory compared to bilingual women or monolingual men and women. Implications for the relative accuracies of verbal memory are considered.

Seizure onset times for rats receiving systemic lithium and pilocarpine: sources of variability

Injection of 30 mg/kg of pilocarpine 24 h after systemic injection of lithium (3 mEq/kg) results in overt limbic motor seizures within about 30 min. Results of several experiments indicated that whereas food deprivation or repeated nociceptive stimulation during the previous 24 h decreased seizure onset times (SOTs) by about 11 to 12 min, food restriction, continuous lighting, or, handling during the previous 7 to 14 days increased SOTs by comparable durations. Early handling before weaning but not injections of clomimpramine also decreased SOTs. A difference of 18 min in the means of SOTs was produced by injecting either 1.0 (increased SOT) or 1.5 mg/kg (decreased SOT) of dexamethasome during the previous 24 h. A strong (multiple r=.87) association between SOTs and the amount of damage within five specific thalamic-limbic nuclei was observed. These results, in conjunction with blood corticosterone levels taken before and after induction of the seizures, suggest the neurochemical mechanisms affecting the range in SOTs could involve the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-corticosterone system and influence the amount of post-seizure-induced damage.

Postnatal anoxia from CO2 for one minute produces sex-specific changes in contextual fear conditioning in adult rats

In a split-litter design, equal numbers of male and female rats were exposed either to carbon dioxide for 1 min, or to the control condition on either postnatal Days 9-10 or 17-18. At 120 days of age half the numbers of rats in each condition were given subclinical dosages of lithium (1.5 mEq/kg) and pilocarpine (15 mg/kg) or saline. 40 days later all rats were tested in a conditioned fear paradigm. A four-way analysis of variance as a function of the variables anoxia, age at the time of anoxia sex, and subclinical seizure induction indicated a significant interaction between sex and anoxic history. Post hoc analysis showed that performance of male rats exposed to the anoxic condition did not differ from normal or anoxic female rats. The results suggest that only 1 min. of preweaning anoxia may produce permanent changes in contextual fear conditioning for male but not female rats.

Synergistic induction of severe hypothermia (poikilothermia) by limbic seizures, acepromazine and physical restraint: role of noradrenergic alpha-1 receptors

The maintained production of extreme reductions in core temperature (20-22 degrees C) or poikilothermia can be reliably produced by the synergistic interaction of limbic seizures (induced by lithium and pilocarpine), postseizure administration of a single injection of acepromazine, and physical restraint. Administration of the specific and nonspecific dopamine antagonists haloperidol, chlorpromazine, SCH23390, or clozapine did not simulate the effect at clinically effective dosages. Single injections of phentolamine and prazosin but not of propranolol instead of acepromazine following the seizures produced the poikilothermia. This effect was also reproduced by reducing the amount of the rats' adipose weight before the induction of the seizures and physical restraint. Rats that had been restrained or not restrained and displayed either euthermia or hypothermia exhibited significantly different patterns in brain damage within limbic and thalamic structures.

Geophysical variables and behavior: XCVI. "Experiences" attributed to Christ and Mary at Marmora, Ontario, Canada may have been consequences of environmental electromagnetic stimulation: implications for religious movements

Since the year 1992 individuals and groups of people have reported religious experiences near Marmora, Ontario, Canada. The experiences, attributed to Christ or Mary, have occurred near the top of a hill adjacent to an open pit magnetite mine that has been accumulating about 15 million gallons of water per month for more than a decade. During the period between 1992 and 1997 epicentres for local seismic events moved significantly closer to this site. Most of the messages attributed to spiritual beings by "sensitive" individuals occurred one or two days after increased global geomagnetic activity. We suggest that conditions produced by local geophysical and geological properties created the odd lights and induced physiological changes within the thousands of people who visited the area. Direct measurements indicated that weak (0.1 microTesla to 1 microTesla) complex magnetic fields, the temporal patterns of which were similar to the experimental fields we have employed to evoke the sensed presence and altered states within the laboratory, may have been generated within the area.

Decreased density of neurons in the medial preoptic nucleus and increased testicular weights for rats exposed perinatally to an 0.5 Hz Rotating Magnetic Field

Pregnant Wistar rats were exposed to either 0.5 Hz Rotating Magnetic Fields (50 microT to 300 microT or 1.5 mT to 3.0 mT) or to sham field or control environments for 3 days before to 3 days after the day of birth. The adult male offspring that had been exposed perinatally to the RMF displayed significantly heavier testicle weights but fewer neurons within the medial preoptic nucleus (MPO) and caudal ventromedial hypothalamus relative to sham field controls (effect size about 30%). There was no statistically significant difference between the two ranges of RMF intensities for these measures. RMF-exposed rats relative to sham-field exposed rats did not differ with respect to spleen weights, body weights, or mounting (reproductive) activity. The heavier testicle weights replicated previous studies and suggest that permanent, selective alterations in neuronal density can also occur subsequent to perinatal exposure to relatively weak, extremely low frequency magnetic fields.

Complex partial epileptic-like experiences in university students and practitioners of Dharmakaya in Thailand: comparison with Canadian university students

We tested the hypothesis that individuals who frequently practice meditation within another culture whose assumptions explicitly endorse this practice should exhibit more frequent and varied experience associated with complex partial epilepsy (without the seizures) as inferred by the Personal Philosophy Inventory and Roberts' Questionnaire for the Epileptic Spectrum Disorder. 80 practitioners of Dharma Meditation and 24 university students in Thailand were compared with 76 students from first-year courses in psychology in a Canadian university. Although there were large significant differences for some items and clusters of items expected as a result of cultural differences, there were no statistically significant differences between the two populations for the proportions of complex partial epileptic-like experiences or their frequency of occurrence. There were no strong or consistent correlations between the history of meditation within the sample who practiced Dharma meditation and these experiences. These results suggest complex partial epileptic-like experiences may be a normal feature of the human species.

Mast cell numbers in the young rat thalamus: a search for control factors

Numbers of mast cells within brain space can be influenced by exposures to weak, complex magnetic fields. The present studies were designed to help isolate the factors that control numbers of mast cell within the thalamus (n=96) of 15 and 20 day old rat pups. In Experiment I, rat pups were injected daily with either 1 microliter/g or 10 microliter/g of either distilled water, isotonic saline or 0.5 M saline; another group served as controls. The numbers of thalamic mast cells did not differ significantly between the four groups. In Experiment II, that employed a cross-fostering, split litter design, the rats whose mothers had consumed 0.9% taurine during pregnancy contained about twice as many mast cells within the thalamus compared to controls. Fifteen day old pups that had been reared by other mothers showed more mast cells than those reared by their own mothers. There were negative correlations (-.60) between the numbers of mast cells within the leptomeninges of the pups and the mothers' ovarian weights but no significant associations between the numbers of mast cells within the brains of the pups and the mothers.

Suppression of analgesia in rats induced by morphine or L-NAME but not both drugs by microTesla, frequency-modulated magnetic fields

In Experiment I, the nociceptive threshold for a criterion response to thermal stimuli (hot plate) for rats was obtained following injections with one of various dosages of either morphine or the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, L-NAME. On the bases of these results, rats in Experiment II were injected with either morphine (4 mg/kg), L-NAME (50 mg/kg), both morphine and L-NAME, or saline after baseline measurements for nociception and then exposed to either a 1 microTesla magnetic field or to a sham field for 30 min. The magnetic field, presented once every 4 sec, was a frequency-modulated pattern whose pixel durations, for each of the 837 successive values, were 1 msec. Nociceptive thresholds were measured immediately after the exposure and 30 min later. The results indicated that exposure to this magnetic field abolished the analgesic effects of morphine or L-NAME when injected separately but not when injected together relative to rats that had received these drugs and had been exposed to the sham field.

Weight gain in post-seized rats is facilitated by adding aspirin, glucose, or glucose-taurine-acetaminophen to food mush

Adult male rats were seized with lithium and pilocarpine and administered acepromazine to facilitate survival. After four days (1) 8 mg of acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), (2) 100 mg taurine-15 mg acetaminophen (Tylenol)-40 mg glucose, (3) 40 mg glucose, or (4) water was added to the food mush daily for 30 days. A fifth group served as non-seized controls. Within one week all pharmacological treatments promoted more weight recovery than food mush only. The rats receiving aspirin (equivalent to 3 tablets/day for humans) showed the greatest early recovery. After 15 days of treatment the pharmacologically treated seized rats had returned to baseline weight and did not differ from normals whereas seized rats given only food mush had not. We suggest inhibiting prostaglandins by anti-inflammatory compounds or stimulating the GABA shunt pathway through enhanced dietary glucose to accelerate weight gain following the significant loss that accompanies brain injury.

Agonistic behavior in groups of limbic epileptic male rats: pattern of brain damage and moderating effects from normal rats

Different ratios of normal male rats and male rats in which limbic seizures had been induced by a single systemic injection of lithium and pilocarpine were housed in groups of six. The group ratios ranged along the continuum from all normal rats to all experimental rats. The average numbers of episodes of boxing, biting and mounting--thrusting per rat per hour per group were recorded by direct observation (red light) for 1 h during the midscotophase. Groups that contained less than two normal rats exhibited significantly elevated amounts of agonistic (boxing, biting) behavior but not mounting behavior. Multiple regression analyses showed that combinations of neuronal loss within only two to three areas accommodated at least 50% of the variance in the numbers of these behaviors.

Experimental production of illusory (false) memories in reconstructions of narratives: effect size and potential mediation by right hemispheric stimulation from complex, weak magnetic fields

This experiment was designed to discern the proportion of false, inferential and verbatim memories that would be included in the reconstruction, one week later, of a 5 min narrative containing ambiguous but emotional content about a little boy. After 48 subjects were administered Spiegel's Hypnosis Induction Profile, they listened to the narrative, were exposed to one of four applications of transcerebral weak, complex magnetic fields for 30 min and then given either an accurate or inaccurate short summary of the story. One week later the group who received the erroneous summary reported more false memories about the original story than did the reference group; this treatment accommodated about 40% of the variance in numbers of false memories. Only an indicator of electrical lability within the temporal lobes (but not hypnotizability) was strongly associated with the numbers of inferential memories but not the numbers of false memories. The group that received transcerebral stimulation over the right hemisphere by a complex magnetic field and the erroneous summary reported three times the numbers of false memories compared to the other groups. Whereas verbatim memories showed a strong primacy effect inferential memories exhibited a strong recency effect (eta(2) =.66).

Synchronized feeding as a "conditioned stimulus" for overt seizures in chronically (limbic) epileptic rats: a model for "psychogenic seizures" with complex partial epilepsy

Chronic limbic epilepsy was induced in male albino rats by a single systemic injection of lithium (3 mEq/kg) and pilocarpine (30 mg/kg). During the subsequent months the numbers of spontaneous, paroxysmal stereotyped episodes (analogous to Racine stages 4 and 5) were monitored. The numbers of these "overt seizures" increased within 10 min of the daily presentation of a food stimulus even though food was available ad libitum. The majority of the paroxysmal, stereotyped behaviours occurred within 1 min of the stimulus presentation; they were attenuated by oral prednisolone. Three rats displayed evidence of "conditioned seizures" to specific stimuli. The results suggest that the display of these behaviours can be synchronized and learned in contexts that are associated with the release of CRF (corticotrophin releasing factor) and may involve the disinhibited activity within the central amygdaloid nucleus of these rats. Implications for the occurrence of psychogenic seizures in patients with complex partial (limbic) epilepsy are discussed.

Effects of permanent residence with foster mothers and new siblings upon numbers of mast cells within the thalamus of preweaned rats

In a split-litter, cross-fostered design, the numbers of mast cells per 10 micrometer sections within the thalamic boundaries in rats that had been reared by 8 natural or 8 foster mothers were counted 5 days and 10 days after the transfer had occurred on postnatal Day 10. The rats from 4 litters with the highest numbers of thalamic mast cells exhibited marked reductions in these numbers when fostered by mothers of the 4 litters with the fewest numbers of thalamic mast cells. The reverse influence was not observed. These results suggest that adaptation to changing maternal environments for rats with congenitally elevated numbers of mast cells may increase the risk of degranulation and transient anomalies within cerebral vasculature or the blood-brain barrier.

Geophysical variables and behavior: XCV. Annual January rainfall may modulate the incidence of luminous phenomena within the San Francisco Basin

The role of precipitation as a modulator of processes that influence the numbers of reports of anomalous luminous phenomena was investigated within the San Francisco Basin for the years 1950 through 1969. More than 50% of the variance in the numbers of these reports was accommodated by the amount of rainfall during the months of January. The relationship was strongest for events within 100 km of the city. Years in which January rainfall exceeded 8.5 in. and the numbers of earthquakes within the basin increased were associated with the largest numbers of general reports within 400 km from the city, particularly if the previous year had been drier and displayed less seismic activity. Application of the equation to years 1970 through 1995 predicted that above average (z score > 1.5) numbers of luminous displays should have occurred during the years 1973, 1993, and 1995. The results support the corollary of the tectonic strain theory that fluid injection or hydrological loads, natural or man-made, can affect the processes of tectonic strain which facilitate the creation of unusual luminous phenomena.

Geophysical variables and behavior: CIII. Days with sudden infant deaths and cardiac arrhythmias in adults share a factor with PC1 geomagnetic pulsations: implications for pursuing mechanism

If geomagnetic-mediated stimuli trigger many sudden infant deaths, then the days in which they and hospital admissions for cardiac arrhythmias for adults occur should share a similar source of variance. Factor analyses of the days in which a sudden infant death occurred in Ontario or adults were admitted for one of eight categories of cardiac crisis in the Sudbury (Ontario) Region for the year 1984 supported the hypothesis. This factor, with which infant deaths and adult cardiac arrhythmias each shared about 40% of their variance, also shared about 40% of the variance with a factor with which about 35% of the variance in daily occurrence of geomagnetic pulsations (0.2 Hz to 5 Hz) was associated. These results are consistent with the important role of geomagnetic variables in the occurrence of transient electrical anomalies in brain function rather than cardiac blood flow.

Geophysical variables and behavior: CIV. Power-frequency magnetic field transients (5 microtesla) and reports of haunt experiences within an electronically dense house

Magnetic field measurements for power frequencies were measured continuously over two 24-hr. periods for a small house in which two adults who exhibited above normal occurrences of complex partial epileptic-like experiences had reported "waves of fear", tactile sensations, nightmares, apparitions, and a sensed presence. The experiences occurred within an area in which irregular amplitude modulations between 1 microT and 5 microT (50 mG) from 60-Hz sources, with durations of a few seconds to several tens of seconds, were measured. This case suggests that transient, complex temporal patterns of power-frequency magnetic fields generated by less than optimal grounding in dwellings and telluric currents may be sufficient to evoke experiences in the brains of sensitive individuals. Cultural labels, applied by the experients, then affect the explanations and expectancies for these experiences.

Diurnal variation in pilocarpine-induced generalized tonic-clonic seizure activity

The efficacy of the cholinergic agonist pilocarpine to evoke generalized seizures in rats was examined over the 24-h photocycle. Both seizure latency and severity during the 24-h period exhibited marked diurnal variation. Seizure activity generalized more rapidly throughout the dark phase and was often characterized by wild running clonus and tonic extensor convulsions. In contrast, electrographic seizures during the light phase were mainly associated with facial/forelimb clonus and rearing typical of pilocarpine-induced seizures. These data suggest that the sensitivity of the rodent brain to pilocarpine exhibits day-night variation and seizure activity induced during the dark phase may generalize via the brainstem.

Normal spatial memory following postseizure treatment with ketamine: selective damage attenuates memory deficits in brain-damaged rodents

Within 30 min after the initiation of status epilepticus (SE) by lithium and pilocarpine, rats were injected with either acepromazine or ketamine. Compared to the rats that had received the acepromazine, the group that had received the ketamine displayed more accurate spatial memory. Their scores did not differ significantly from normal (non-seized) controls. Although the ketamine treatment did not significantly change the amount of neuronal loss within about 100 Paxinos and Watson structures, it was neuroprotective for several structures within the thalamus and portions of the temporal and parietal cortices. Ketamine-treated rats, however, displayed markedly more damage within the entorhinal cortices and amygdalohippocampal area.

Geophysical variables and behavior: XCI. Ambulatory behavior in rats following prenatal exposures to complex magnetic fields designed to interact with genetic expression

A total of 45 litters were exposed during their entire prenatal development to one of two complex patterns of magnetic fields whose strengths varied within one of four intensity ranges between 10 nT and 1,000 nT or to sham-field conditions. The litters exposed to the most complex pattern, composed of 50 200-msec. presentations of different pulses for 10 sec. every 50 sec., displayed more ambulation in an open field at 21 days of age than the litters that had been exposed continuously to a repetitive frequency-modulated field or to sham-field conditions. This treatment explained 25% of the variance in the numbers of squares traversed. The results suggest that complexity of the applied magnetic field during prenatal development may be more important than intensity for permanently affecting neuronal organization and behavior.

Shifting gustatory thresholds and food cravings during pregnancy as expanding uterine-induced steady potential shifts within the insula: an hypothesis

A logical extrapolation from the principle that structure dictates function is that transient or anomalous experiences are consequences of simultaneous stimulations of proximal brain regions not typically co-activated. In this paper the occasional shifts in gustatory threshold during the menstrual cycle, the craving for unusual tastes experienced by some during pregnancies, and, the reports by postmenopausal women of the "burning mouth syndrome" are hypothesized to be artifacts of the proximity of gustatory and uterine representations within the female insula. Transient (menstrual) or tonic (pregnancy) stimulation within the uterus might shift the locus of neuronal activity within the insula to include adjacent gustatory neurons and consequently alter taste experiences. Specific tests of this hypothesis are suggested.

Geophysical variables and behavior: XC. What people consider strange: change in proportions of reports of Fortean phenomena over time

The proportions of 3,667 reports classified as unusual or odd events within eight major categories for four contiguous blocks of time between 1770 and 1970 were compared for disconcordance. The major source of the disconcordance (phi = .52) of reports between the major categories and time was due to the decrease in the numbers of reports of falls of ice, rocks, and animals but increased numbers of reports of odd luminosities, labelled as unidentified flying objects, after the mid 1930s. One hypothesis to explain this result is that cultural changes in attributions for causes of natural phenomena may affect their designation as strange rather than mundane.