Bioelectromagnetism First mentioned when the ancient Egyptians had

problems catching a particular kind of fish which would give them powerful electric shocks (>450V), forcing them to drop the fish back into the water

In the first medical application of bioelectromagnetism, a similar kind of fish was used to treat headaches and arthritis from 46CE until the 17th century CE

What is it?

Bioelectromagnetism: refers to electric, magnetic, or electromagnetic fields produced by living cells or organisms

Examples: membrane potentials, action potentials, electric currents that flow through nerves/muscles, Brain Oscillations, magnetic field of the heart (EKG), etc

A little more behind the history of studying oscillations

Hans Berger became a professor in 1906 and began publishing his years worth of research in 1929

Berger didn't receive funding for his research and conducted it in private, on his own time

The first time gave an official presentation of his work at an international conference was in 1937

WHY?

"Berger, in 1935, was not regarded by his associates as in the front rank of German psychiatrists, having rather the reputation of being a crank. He seemed to me to be a modest and dignified person, full of good humour, and as unperturbed by lack of recognition as he was later by the fame it eventually brought upon him...”

- from The Living Brain, William Grey

Basically, Berger's colleagues thought he was 'crazy' because he believed in 'brain waves' – which must have been some sort of mystical voodoo magic

And then there were brain waves...

Eventually it became undeniable that brain waves were real (and also scientific)

“Don't worry!”, said the intellectual scientists, “they exist, but they don't MEAN anything... they're just byproducts of electrical activity!”

And so, the scientific community saved us from new paradigms and new models.

It's a typical story in all fields of science!

Today there's a new generation in a new world. To scientists and non-scientists alike,

brain waves (oscillations) are common sense.

They're even worthy of study now!

We can now talk about oscillations and their biophysical/behavioural/etc effects

scientifically (and we don't have be crazy)

Today?

The Point?

A scientist needs to remember that sometimes today's pseudoscience is tomorrow's breakthrough, and today's

'crazies' are sometimes tomorrow's Einsteins

A scientist must keep an open mind and be able and willing to let go of their paradigms

and their models – otherwise we develop of a culture of scientists interfering with science

What about Biomagnetism?

Virtually all scientists and science students are aware of bioelectricity (though they may not call it that)

Not many are aware of the importance of biomagnetism: the magnetic fields surrounding all living organisms produced by the internal ongoing electrical activity

Pioneered by David Cohen – 60's, 70's

Biomagnetism in the Scientific Community

The community is aware of biomagnetism, but much of the research that focuses on it is looked at as pseudoscience and the papers and their authors are not taken seriously, except for some very technical research (ie. Magnetic field influence on biochemical reactions).

Funding is short for more exploratory research.

Many subscribe to the paradigm that magnetic fields have no function or purpose on their own, they are just a byproduct of the oscillations

Sound Familiar?

“The assumption of quackery that has attended this subject since the time of Mesmer's original “animal magnetism” investigations (1700's) continues to hamper efforts to compile a reliable database on the health effects of electromagnetic fields.”

- 2004, Roger M. Mackils, MD. “Magnetic Healing, Quackery, and the Debate about the Health Effects of Electromagnetic Fields”, History of Medicine

- this quote came after a series of papers addressing the issue of magnetic fields from power-lines, radio stations, etc, may have health effects on humans were dismissed as pseudoscience

Magnetobiology The study of biological effects of mainly weak and

low-frequency magnetic fields (because strong/high-freq fields cause heating of tissue)

Results are both difficult to interpret and to reproduce because magnetic fields are spatio-temporally summative, meaning they depend on all other magnetic fields in range (10-20% fail to be reproduced or see effects)

Magnetoreception Pineal gland, along with a few other visual areas of the

brain, are involved in sensing magnetic fields (Semm et al. 1984

Semm, P., Nohr, D., Demaine, C., and Wiltschko, W. (1984). J. Comp. Physiol. [A] 155, 283–288.)

Pineal gland is light sensitive and contains electromagnetically sensitive crystals (calcite and magnetite)

Trigeminal nerve system also thought to be involved

However, we don't know the details! - primary magnetoreceptors have not been identified unambiguously

External Magnetic FieldsWhat can magnetic or electromagnetic fields

do that relate to biology? Influence biochemical reactions Influence rotational and energy states of

atoms/molecules in protein structures Magnetically induced charges effect the

properties of liquid water Affect neurotransmitter levels (melatonin) (1993: Reiter

R J. Static and extremely low frequency electromagnetic field exposure: reported effects on the circadian production of melatonin.. Journal of cellular biochemistry 1993;51(4):394-403.)

Geometry of crystallization

Biochemical Reactions: Some biochemical reactions can only

occur in certain frequency bands or magnitudes of magnetic fields, just like oscillation dependent reactions (biomagnetochemistry)

Rotational and energy states of atoms MF's effect the electron-spin motion of

atoms and their energy states (quantum state) and other quantum mechanical processes, which seem to influence protein development and DNA activity (Magnetokinetic Effects on Radical Pairs: A Paradigm for Magnetic Field Interactions with Biological Systems at Lower Than Thermal Energy. Walleczek, Electromagnetic Fields. May 5, 1995, 395-420) and (Magnetic field activation of protein-DNA binding. Lin, Hana. Han, Li. Journal of Cellular Biology

Crystal Geometry

The magnetic fields that a crystal structure is developed in strongly influences the geometrical structure of that crystal

Calcite crystals, which are found in the pineal gland, develop a more symmetrical geometry in the Earth's magnetic field and asymmetrical geometry in 'urban noise'

More on Calcite Crystals They are electromagnetically sensitive (react to and

influenced by electromagnetic fields) Optics studies on calcite show that it is able to refract

electromagnetic radiation from a very wide range of wavelengths (well beyond visual light), and is an optic polarizer (divides a beam of light into 2 beams with opposite polarization)(http://www.sciner.com/Opticsland/Calcite.htm)

The pineal gland has photosensitive 'retinal' cells Are calcite crystals involved in sensation for these

cells and how does their geometry effect their optical properties?

Magnetite Magnetite was recently found in human brains

(http://www.affs.org/html/biomagnetism.html)

These chains of magnetic crystals are thought to be involved in the sensation of magnetic fields and geomagnetic sensing/navigation in other animals

Also possibly involved in some other brain mechanics

Single pyramidal magnetite crystals are found arranged in layers in the cortex, in the extra-cellular fluid.

Seem to function as liquid crystal oscillators, activated by the tiny magnetic fields produced by dendritic currents

Upon activation the crystals produce a “circular polarized light pulse that travels throughout the body, or travels as a transverse photonic bundle of energy”. (H. Coetzee, Ph.D. Biomagnetism and Bio-Electromagnetism: The Foundation of Life. Future History, Volume 8)

Einstein's idea of the energy body? - really an old idea (REALLY old)

Magnetite crystals can be found attached to ion channels

The crystals align themselves to the magnetic fields they are in

This can cause them to pull closer together, farther apart, or in one direction or another

This can stretch/compress the membrane and physically open/close ion channels

Examples of Magnetic Fields in Medicine Treatment of MS: extracranial application of picoTesla

MF's produced dramatic and sustained improvement, administration of melatonin caused rapid return to disability, which was reversed by treatment with the MF. Hypothesized that pineal gland is involved (since it is a known magnetoreceptor) (Successful treatment of multiple sclerosis with magnetic fields. Sandyk R. Int J Neurosci. 1992 Oct;66(3-4):237-50. Review.)

Weak Magnetic Fields and Extremely Low-Frequency Magnetic Fields have been shown to improve the speed of healing of superficial skin wounds, tissue/organ wounds, and bone fractures in rats/rabbits (Just search 'magnetic fields and healing' on google scholar for a lot of information)

Some Interesting Observations Coming from the Eastern Cultures

Reiki/Chi-gong/Prana – translates to 'healing energy', or just 'energy' is the thousands of years old practice of using the body's internal energy for healing

A main practice in Chinese, Indian, and almost all Asian forms of medicine – requires usually at least decade of training to develop stronger energy and learn how to control it. These same energies are used in Martial arts (particularly Chinese and Indian) to kill instead of heal

Practitioners of these arts are able to manipulate the strength and frequency of the magnetic fields around localized areas of their own bodies (ie. The hands)

It was found that when using these healing techniques, the magnetic fields surrounding the hands of the healer were similar in frequency to the external magnetic fields used in medical experiments on rats and other mammals (averagine 7-8Hz)

The human practitioner was much more effective than the machine-induced MF used in experiments, possibly because the frequency of the MF around the hands oscillated between 0.3 and 30Hz

Chapman and Milton, “REIKI AS AN INTERVENTION IN DRUG AND ALCOHOL WITHDRAWAL AND REHABILITATION - Almost a decade of experience”, 2002

The MF's produced by these humans and experts in yoga, meditation, and Qigong increased 1000 times in strength compared to normal biomagnetic fields in humans