ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2016
Polarized light modulates light-dependent magnetic compass orientation in birds.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Protein-Solvent Interface Controls Proton-Coupled Reactivity in Cryptochrome 4a.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2026Article
- From skylight cues to magnetic fields: the toolkit of insect long-distance navigation.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2026Review
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- Transcriptomic Signature of Spatial Navigation in Brains of Desert Ants.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Effects of low-level RF fields reveal complex pattern of magnetic input to the avian magnetic compass.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Double cones in the avian retina form an oriented mosaic which might facilitate magnetoreception and/or polarized light sensing.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2022Article
- Why is it so difficult to study magnetic compass orientation in murine rodents?Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2022Review
- Cryptochrome expression in avian UV cones: revisiting the role of CRY1 as magnetoreceptor.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Cryptochromes in Mammals and Birds: Clock or Magnetic Compass?Physiology (Bethesda, Md.) · 2021Article
- Orientation and navigation inHerpetozoa · 2020Article
- Magnetic Strategies for Nervous System Control.Annual review of neuroscience · 2019Review
- Ectosymbionts alter spontaneous responses to the Earth's magnetic field in a crustacean.Scientific reports · 2019Article
- Color polarization vision mediates the strength of an evolutionary trap.Evolutionary applications · 2019Article
- Magnetoreception: activation of avian cryptochrome 1a in various light conditions.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2018Article
- Cryptochrome: The magnetosensor with a sinister side?PLoS biology · 2018Article
- Article
- Expression patterns of cryptochrome genes in avian retina suggest involvement of Cry4 in light-dependent magnetoreception.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2018Article
- High-intensity urban light installation dramatically alters nocturnal bird migration.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2017Article
- A light-dependent magnetoreception mechanism insensitive to light intensity and polarization.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Magnetoreception of the light-dependent magnetic compass in birds is suggested to be mediated by a radical-pair mechanism taking place in the avian retina. Biophysical models on magnetic field effects on radical pairs generally assume that the light activating the magnetoreceptor molecules is nondirectional and unpolarized, and that light absorption is isotropic. However, natural skylight enters the avian retina unidirectionally, through the cornea and the lens, and is often partially polarized. In addition, cryptochromes, the putative magnetoreceptor molecules, absorb light anisotropically, i.e., they preferentially absorb light of a specific direction and polarization, implying that the light-dependent magnetic compass is intrinsically polarization sensitive. To test putative interactions between the avian magnetic compass and polarized light, we developed a spatial orientation assay and trained zebra finches to magnetic and/or overhead polarized light cues in a four-arm "plus" maze. The birds did not use overhead polarized light near the zenith for sky compass orientation. Instead, overhead polarized light modulated light-dependent magnetic compass orientation, i.e., how the birds perceive the magnetic field. Birds were well oriented when tested with the polarized light axis aligned parallel to the magnetic field. When the polarized light axis was aligned perpendicular to the magnetic field, the birds became disoriented. These findings are the first behavioral evidence to our knowledge for a direct interaction between polarized light and the light-dependent magnetic compass in an animal. They reveal a fundamentally new property of the radical pair-based magnetoreceptor with key implications for how birds and other animals perceive the Earth's magnetic field.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.