AMBULATORY EFFECTS OF BRIEF EXPOSURES TO MAGNETIC FIELDS CHANGING ORTHOGONALLY IN SPACE OVER TIME.

In a within-subject design adult male rats were exposed for 15 min once per day or night to one of two patterns of complex magnetic fields (0.5 to 1 micro T) rotated in space once every 2 s or 20 s through each of the three spatial dimensions and then simultaneously through all three dimensions. Open field behavior was then measured for ambulation, defecation, and grooming. The rats displayed about twice the ambulation after when the fields had been present compared to when they had not. The burst-firing field elicited the greatest ambulation when presented during the night whereas the frequency-modulated pattern elicited the greatest ambulation when presented during the day. These results suggest that robust behavioral changes can occur when rats are exposed for 15 min to complex spatiotemporal configurations of weak magnetic fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]