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MINI REVIEW article

Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Sensory Neuroscience
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1482872

The Origins of Light-Independent Magnetoreception in Humans

Provisionally accepted
Takashi Shibata Takashi Shibata 1*Noriaki Hattori Noriaki Hattori 1Hisao Nishijo Hisao Nishijo 2Satoshi Kuroda Satoshi Kuroda 1Kaoru Takakusaki Kaoru Takakusaki 3
  • 1 University of Toyama, Toyama, Japan
  • 2 University of East Asia, Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, Japan
  • 3 Asahikawa Medical University, Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The Earth's abundance of iron has played a crucial role in both generating its geomagnetic field and contributing to the development of early life. In ancient oceans, iron ions, particularly around deep-sea hydrothermal vents, might have catalyzed the formation of macromolecules, leading to the emergence of life and the Last Universal Common Ancestor. Iron continued to influence catalysis, metabolism, and molecular evolution, resulting in the creation of magnetosome gene clusters in magnetotactic bacteria, which enabled these unicellular organisms to detect geomagnetic field. Although humans lack a clearly identified organ for geomagnetic sensing, many life forms have adapted to geomagnetic field-even in deep-sea environmentsthrough mechanisms beyond the conventional five senses. Research indicates that zebrafish hindbrains are sensitive to magnetic fields, the semicircular canals of pigeons respond to weak potential changes through electromagnetic induction, and human brainwaves respond to magnetic fields in darkness. This suggests that the trigeminal brainstem nucleus and vestibular nuclei, which integrate multimodal magnetic information, might play a role in geomagnetic processing. From iron-based metabolic systems to magnetic sensing in neurons, the evolution of life reflects ongoing adaptation to geomagnetic field. However, since magnetite-activated, torquebased ion channels within cell membranes have not yet been identified, specialized sensory structures like the semicircular canals might still be necessary for detecting geomagnetic orientation. This mini-review explores the evolution of life from Earth's formation to light-independent human magnetoreception, examining both the magnetite hypothesis and the electromagnetic induction hypothesis as potential mechanisms for human geomagnetic detection.

    Keywords: geomagnetic field, Magnetoreception, magnetotactic bacteria, electromagnetic induction, Semicircular Canals, Iron

    Received: 18 Aug 2024; Accepted: 18 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Shibata, Hattori, Nishijo, Kuroda and Takakusaki. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Takashi Shibata, University of Toyama, Toyama, Japan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.