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Neuroanatomy of Magnetoreception: The Superior Colliculus Involved in Magnetic Orientation in a Mammal
Pavel Nmec,1*Jens Altmann,2Stephan Marhold,3Hynek Burda,4Helmut H. A. Oelschläger2
The neural substrate subserving magnetic orientation is largely
unknown in vertebrates and unstudied in mammals. We combineda
behavioral test for magnetic compass orientation in mole ratsand
immunocytochemical visualization of the transcription factorc-Fos as a
marker of neuronal activity. We found that the superiorcolliculus of
the Zambian mole rat (Cryptomys anselli) containsneurons
that are responsive to magnetic stimuli. These neuronsare
directionally selective and organized within a discrete sublayer.Our
results constitute evidence for the involvement of a specificmammalian
brain structure in magnetoreception.
1 Department of Zoology, Charles University,
CZ-128 44 Prague, Czech Republic.
2 Department of
Anatomy III, J. W. Goethe-University, D-60590 Frankfurt am Main,
Germany.
3 Institute of Zoology, J. W. Goethe-University, D-60323 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
4 Department of General Zoology, University of
Essen, D-45117 Essen, Germany.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
pgnemec{at}natur.cuni.cz
The editors suggest the following Related Resources on Science sites:
In Science Magazine
NEWS OF THE WEEK
Kathryn Brown (12 October 2001) Science294 (5541), 283a.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.294.5541.283a] |Summary »|Full Text »
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Kenneth J. Lohmann, Shaun D. Cain, Susan A. Dodge, and Catherine M. F. Lohmann (12 October 2001) Science294 (5541), 364.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.1064557] |Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »|Supplemental Data »
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Magnetic compass in the cornea: local anaesthesia impairs orientation in a mammal.
mec
et al.
,
pp.
366
- 368
