title: A linear relationship between postnatal geomagnetic activity and self-reports of epileptic seizures in young adults.
abstract: To test the hypothesis of a linear relationship between the intensity of geomagnetic activity during the first two days after birth and the development of epilepsy, the responses of the item "I have had an epileptic seizure" was obtained from the Personal Philosophy Inventories of 1,453 students who had been enrolled in first-year psychology courses over a 13-yr. period. The only statistically significant effect was linear and was between the successive 10 nT (nanoTesla) increments of the intensity of geomagnetic activity during the two days after birth and the percentage of students who reported epileptic seizures. The percentage of subjects reporting a history of seizures ranged from 1% for those born when the activity was less than 10 nT to 4% for those born when this activity exceeded 40 nT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Persinger
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: O'Connor
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000378:metabolism*; D008280:Magnetics / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires