2025年11月20日，
采用无偏见的方法，该研究团队采用全脑活动测绘，组织清理和薄层显微镜来识别鸽子（Columba livia）的磁刺激激活的神经元群。小组在前庭内侧核和尾侧中膜中发现了自发的、不依赖光的双侧神经元激活。半圆形嵴的单细胞RNA测序显示，特化的II型毛细胞表达通过电磁感应检测磁刺激所需的分子机制。他们的数据支持一个模型，即来自半规管的电磁输入激活了鸽子大脑内的前庭-中膜回路。
据了解，动物是如何探测地球磁场的，在感觉生物学中仍然是个谜。尽管有广泛的行为证据，但负责磁感测的神经回路和分子机制仍不清楚。
附：英文原文
Title: A global screen for magnetically induced neuronal activity in the pigeon brain
Author: Gregory C. Nordmann, Spencer D. Balay, Thamari N. Kapuruge, Marco Numi, Christoph Leeb, Simon Nimpf, E. Pascal Malkemper, Lukas Landler, David A. Keays
Issue&Volume: 2025-11-20
Abstract: How animals detect the Earth’s magnetic field remains a mystery in sensory biology. Despite extensive behavioral evidence, the neural circuitry and molecular mechanisms responsible for magnetic sensing remain elusive. Adopting an unbiased approach we employ whole brain activity mapping, tissue clearing, and light sheet microscopy to identify neuronal populations activated by magnetic stimuli in the pigeon (Columba livia). We demonstrate robust, light-independent bilateral neuronal activation in the medial vestibular nuclei and the caudal mesopallium. Single-cell RNA sequencing of the semicircular cristae revealed specialized type II hair cells that express the molecular machinery necessary for the detection of magnetic stimuli by electromagnetic induction. Our data supports a model whereby electro-magnetic input from the semicircular canals activates a vestibular-mesopallial circuit within the pigeon brain.
DOI: aea6425
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea6425