Geomagnetic activity and sleep patterns
- 1. GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY AND ITS EFFECT ON SLEEP PATTERNS CHRISTINA GLENN
- 2. How Do Animals Navigate?
- 3. Two Proposed Mechanisms #1 Biogenic Magnetite -Magnetic material found in certain animals that is extremely sensitive to outside magnetic fields -Animals with biogenic magnetite have shown the ability to respond to very small changes in the earth’s geomagnetic field (Kirschvink and Gould 181-201). #2 Cryptochrome - A protein migratory birds use to navigate. It is found in the eyes - The method by which cryptochrome operates is complex- but the end result is that it allows birds to navigate by using the earth’s magnetic field, even in adverse weather conditions (Schulten)
- 4. How Does This Relate to Humans? - Both magnetoreceptive cryptochrome and biogenic magnetite have been found in humans. - There is a lot of controversy in the scientific community concerning whether or not this impacts a persons ability to sense and respond to the geomagnetic field.
- 5. Testing Human Sensitivity Through Cryptochrome - Studies have linked geomagnetic activity with fluctuations in melatonin production -Cryptochrome plays an important role in melatonin production -Linking these two, I narrowed my focus down to studying sleep patterns- with the assumption that disturbances could be caused by fluctuations in melatonin production
- 6. The Experiment -30 individuals were asked to fill out a survey regarding their regular sleeping patterns -They were then asked to keep a journal for 30 days, recording any disturbances that could not be explained by outside sources (phones ringing, dogs barking, etc) or medication.
- 7. The Experiment (continued) -After the results were returned, the daily number of disturbances were recorded. -The number of daily disturbances were compared to the strength of the daily geomagnetic fluctuations, recorded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a daily A- index. * Red indicates number of daily disturbances while blue indicates the daily A- index
- 8. Results Correlation Coefficient (r) = 0.28 (weak positive correlation) Probability = 0.06 (with 0.05 or lower being considered statistically significant)
- 9. Conclusion This subject matter would be better examined under testing methods more sophisticated than a diary survey alone. Because of this, I believe that the weak positive correlation and close proximity to statistical significance in a diary survey warrants further research using more accurate testing methods in a more formal research environment. A larger sample size and more control measures would also be beneficial.
- 10. References Kirschvink, JL, and JL Gould. "Biogenic Magnetite as a basis for magnetic 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 Apr 2014.