Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28978441›Full record

ArticleBiophysical journal2017

Disruption of Magnetic Compass Orientation in Migratory Birds by Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields.

Hamish G Hiscock, Henrik Mouritsen, David E Manolopoulos, P J Hore

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Biophysical journal, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
34citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

34 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. A hybrid compass mechanism combining radical pairs and magnetite crystals.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Magneto-oncology: a radical pair primer.Frontiers in oncology · 2025
    Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Upper bound for broadband radiofrequency field disruption of magnetic compass orientation in night-migratory songbirds.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023
    Article
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Hamish G HiscockDepartment of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Henrik MouritsenInstitut für Biologie und Umweltwissenschaften, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany; Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
David E ManolopoulosDepartment of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Oxford, United Kingdom.
P J HoreDepartment of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Oxford, United Kingdom. Electronic address: peter.hore@chem.ox.ac.uk.

Funding

European Research Council 340451
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The radical-pair mechanism has been put forward as the basis of the magnetic compass sense of migratory birds. Some of the strongest supporting evidence has come from behavioral experiments in which birds exposed to weak time-dependent magnetic fields lose their ability to orient in the geomagnetic field. However, conflicting results and skepticism about the requirement for abnormally long quantum coherence lifetimes have cast a shroud of uncertainty over these potentially pivotal studies. Using a recently developed computational approach, we explore the effects of various radiofrequency magnetic fields on biologically plausible radicals within the theoretical framework of radical-pair magnetoreception. We conclude that the current model of radical-pair magnetoreception is unable to explain the findings of the reported behavioral experiments. Assuming that an unknown mechanism amplifies the predicted effects, we suggest experimental conditions that have the potential to distinguish convincingly between the two distinct families of radical pairs currently postulated as magnetic compass sensors. We end by making recommendations for experimental protocols that we hope will increase the chance that future experiments can be independently replicated.

Indexed as

Electromagnetic FieldsModels, BiologicalRadio WavesAnimal MigrationAnimalsBirdsComputer SimulationOrientationTaxis Response

Identifiers

PMID28978441
PMCPMC5627152

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.