Industrial air pollution leaves magnetic residues in the brain

An article published last September 5 on the website of the Science Magazine speaks about the effects of industrial air pollution on the human brain. According to the article, if you live in an urban environment, you are literally likely to have nano-magnets in the brain. New research suggests that most of the magnetite found in the human brain, a compound of magnetic iron oxide, comes from industrial air pollution.

As high concentrations of magnetite are found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's, the findings raise concerns for a new and alarming environmental risk factor for this and other neurodegenerative diseases. Still, other scientists warn that the connection remains speculative.

Read the full article.

Another article, published on May 2012 and titled "Neural Correlates of a Magnetic Sense", addresses the influence of the magnetic field on the orientation and navigation of some animals, especially birds. The article says that the way the brain receives and interprets information from the magnetic field is unknown, but that there are proposals for evidence of steering receptors in the retina, beak, nose and inner ear of vertebrates.

Several regions of the brain activated by magnetic stimulation have been identified, but the central neural mechanisms based on magnetoreception remain unknown. In the article, neuronal responses in the pigeon's brains were described which show how single cells encode the direction, intensity, and polarity of the magnetic field. The results demonstrate that there is a neural substrate for a vertebrate magnetic sense.

Find the full article here.

How will magnetic iron oxide magnetites influence the orientation and navigation of animals?