Neural Basis of Magnetic Field Detection in a Mollusc

在神经科学中，动物的磁感应仍然是一个令人困惑的问题。而行为实验表明，不同种类的动物显然可以探测到地球的磁场，并利用它来定位或迁徙。神经系统如何检测这种特性的机制在很大程度上是未知的。海懒是与蜗牛有亲缘关系的海洋无脊椎动物，神经系统相对简单，这些动物为神经生物学提供了一个很好的模型系统，因为大脑中有一些特定的神经细胞，可以在一个物种的个体中一致地识别出来。最近，一种海懒被发现在其大脑中有一些神经细胞，这些神经细胞对改变地球强度磁场的方向做出反应。这些神经元是已知的对磁刺激做出反应的动物中第一个可识别的细胞。这个项目使用电生理学和解剖学来阐明这些神经元的功能和联系，并以它们为起点，仔细搜索能够探测到磁场的细胞或结构。这项工作的结果将提供对一种神秘但潜在的非常重要的意义的新理解。这项工作将有助于解释迁徙动物如何能够长途航行，从而产生从神经科学到行为科学、生态学和环境科学的影响。

Magnetoreception by animals remains a puzzling issue in neuroscience. While behavioral experiments have demonstrated that different kinds of animals apparently can detect the earth's magnetic field and use it for orientation or migration. The mechanisms of how the nervous system might detect this property are largely unknown. Sea slugs are marine invertebrates related to snails, with a relatively simple nervous system, and these animals provide an excellent model system for neurobiology because there are some particular nerve cells in the brain that are consistently identifiable across individuals of a species. Recently, one kind of sea slug has been found to have some nerve cells in its brain that respond to changing the orientation of earth-strength magnetic fields. These neurons are the first identifiable cells in any animal that are known to respond to magnetic stimuli. This projeat uses electrophysiology and anatomy to clarify the function and connections of these neurons, to use them as a starting point to launch a careful search for the cells or structures that detect magnetic fields. Results from this work will provide a new understanding of a mysterious but potentially very important sense. The work will help explain how migratory animals may be be able to navigate long distances, and so have an impact beyond neuroscience to behavioral sciences, ecology, and environmental sciences.