Max Planck Research Group Neurobiology of Magnetoreception, Center of Advanced European Studies and Research (caesar), Ludwig-Erhard-Allee 2, Bonn 53175, Germany
Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Campus Vienna Biocenter 1, Vienna 1030, Austria.
J Exp Biol. 2020 Nov 9;223(Pt 21):jeb232371. doi: 10.1242/jeb.232371.
Magnetoreception is the ability to sense the Earth's magnetic field, which is used for orientation and navigation. Behavioural experiments have shown that it is employed by many species across all vertebrate classes; however, our understanding of how magnetic information is processed and integrated within the central nervous system is limited. In this Commentary, we review the progress in birds and rodents, highlighting the role of the vestibular and trigeminal systems as well as that of the hippocampus. We reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the methodologies currently at our disposal, the utility of emerging technologies and identify questions that we feel are critical for the advancement of the field. We expect that magnetic circuits are likely to share anatomical motifs with other senses, which culminates in the formation of spatial maps in telencephalic areas of the brain. Specifically, we predict the existence of spatial cells that encode defined components of the Earth's magnetic field.
磁感觉是感知地球磁场的能力，它被用于定向和导航。行为实验表明，许多脊椎动物都具有这种能力；然而，我们对磁场信息如何在中枢神经系统中被处理和整合的理解是有限的。在这篇评论中，我们回顾了鸟类和啮齿动物的研究进展，强调了前庭和三叉神经系统以及海马体的作用。我们反思了我们目前可用的方法的优缺点，新兴技术的实用性，并确定了我们认为对该领域发展至关重要的问题。我们预计，磁回路可能与其他感觉共享解剖学特征，最终在大脑的端脑区域形成空间图谱。具体来说，我们预测存在编码地球磁场特定成分的空间细胞。
