Geophysical variables and behavior: LXXXVII. Effects of synthetic and natural geomagnetic patterns on maze learning.
12 normal male albino rats were exposed or not exposed in their home cages for 5 min. and 50 sec. once every hour 8 times per night to a 7-Hz square-wave magnetic field whose amplitudes were shifted by about 50 nT approximately every 10 sec. Although there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups for numbers of working errors, numbers of reference errors, or speed during the acquisition of an Olton (8-arm) maze, the strength of the group differences (F ratios) for daily working errors was reduced (rho = .70) if there had been enhanced geomagnetic activity during the time of the night when the experimental fields were present.
McKay
B E
BE
Department of Psychology, Laurentian University, Ontario, Canada.
Persinger
M A
MA
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D018534:Earth, Planet; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar