Magnetic field effects on exploration behaviour of rodents

Magnetoreception, i.e., the ability of animals to detect magnetic field parameters, has been described in a number of phylogeneticaly distant species, including mammals. Animals that regularly undertake long migrations, as well as non-migratory species, are able to make use of directional information derived from the Earth magnetic field. Recently, this ability has been documented in laboratory mice from the C57BL/6J strain, which were used as the model organism also in our study. The aim of this thesis was to analyze the locomotory activity and behavioral parameters in mice exposed to various experimentally manipulated magnetic fields in an open field test (OFT). Overall, the effect of experimental magnetic fields on activity level and behaviors of C57BL/6J mice during OFT exploration was rather weak. Nevertheless, a detailed analysis revealed that magnetic fields influenced the angular velocity of mice in the first 20 minutes of the OFT and the following behaviors: grooming, digging, and nose-to-wall contacts. Different parameters of magnetic fields affected different behaviours in a specific manner. Changes of behavior in time were most visibly affected. These results remain open to interpretation, however, it seems that the experimentally manipulated magnetic fields might represent stimulus..