The effects of exposure of longhorn beetles to a sine wave or square wave 50 Hz magnetic field on the neuronal activity in the antennal lobe (part of the insect brain which receives the input from the olfactory sensory neurons on the antenna) should be investigated.
The longhorn beetle was used as it had already been known to be sensitive to static magnetic fields (see Todorovic et al. 2007) and moreover, because it is particularly relevant as an endangered species in Europe. 22 beetles were divided into the following two groups: 1) exposure to sine waves (n=12), 2) exposure to square waves (n=10). Each beetle was subsequently exposed for 5, 10 and 15 minutes at 40 minutes intervals. The neuronal activity was recorded for 5 minutes directly before and after an exposure session, respectively. The very first record was defined as the sham exposure.
| Exposure | Parameters |
|---|---|
|
Exposure 1:
50 Hz
Exposure duration:
continuous for 5, 10 and 15 minutes with 40 minutes intervals in between within 2 h
|
|
|
Exposure 2:
50 Hz
Exposure duration:
continuous for 5, 10 and 15 minutes with 40 minutes intervals in between within 2 h
|
|
| Frequency | 50 Hz |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Waveform | |
| Exposure duration | continuous for 5, 10 and 15 minutes with 40 minutes intervals in between within 2 h |
| Additional info | sine waves |
| Exposure source |
|
|---|---|
| Distance between exposed object and exposure source | 1 cm |
| Setup | animals were attached to a plexiglas horizontal plate with an opening for the head in a Faraday cage with 23°C and humidity of 50-60%; a cylindrical Teflon coil (l=70 mm, R=30 mm) containing enameled copper wire coiled around a soft iron core with 8 mm in diameter was placed at a distance of about 1 cm from the insect's left antenna |
| Sham exposure | A sham exposure was conducted. |
| Measurand | Value | Type | Method | Mass | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| magnetic flux density | 2 mT | mean | measured | - | on the surface of the head |
| magnetic flux density | 19 mT | - | measured | - | on top of the coil iron core |
| Frequency | 50 Hz |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Waveform |
|
| Exposure duration | continuous for 5, 10 and 15 minutes with 40 minutes intervals in between within 2 h |
| Additional info | square waves |
| Exposure source |
|
|---|
| Measurand | Value | Type | Method | Mass | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| magnetic flux density | 2 mT | mean | measured | - | on the surface of the head |
| magnetic flux density | 19 mT | - | measured | - | on top of the coil iron core |
No significant differences were found in the neuronal activity of the antennal lobe between the exposure to a sine wave magnetic field and the sham exposure. For the exposure to the square wave magnetic field, significant but reversible changes were detected after the exposure for 15 minutes compared to the measurement after the exposure for 10 minutes.
The results indicate that exposure of longhorn beetles to a square wave 50 Hz magnetic field could influence the neuronal activity in the antennal lobe.
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