Synchronization of Human Autonomic Nervous System Rhythms with Geomagnetic Activity in Human Subjects

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 14; no. 7; p. 770
• Main Authors: McCraty, Rollin, Atkinson, Mike, Stolc, Viktor, Alabdulgader, Abdullah A., Vainoras, Alfonsas, Ragulskis, Minvydas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ames Research Center MDPI 13.07.2017; MDPI AG
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Autonomic Nervous System - physiology; Blood pressure; Cardiovascular system; Circadian Rhythm; Cosmic rays; Female; Heart rate; Heart Rate - physiology; Humans; Life Sciences (General); Magnetic Fields; Magnetic Phenomena; Male; Middle Aged; Nervous system; Physiology; Sun; Lithuania; United States > US; Heart Rate/physiology; Magnetic Fields; Autonomic Nervous System/physiology; Circadian Rhythm; Magnetic Phenomena; autonomic nervous system; cosmic rays; heart rate variability; ANS; solar radio flux; Schumann resonance; geomagnetic field; heliobiology; HRV; solar wind
• ISSN: 1661-7827; 1660-4601; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph14070770

A coupling between geomagnetic activity and the human nervous system's function was identified by virtue of continuous monitoring of heart rate variability (HRV) and the time-varying geomagnetic field over a 31-day period in a group of 10 individuals who went about their normal day-to-day lives. A time series correlation analysis identified a response of the group's autonomic nervous systems to various dynamic changes in the solar, cosmic ray, and ambient magnetic field. Correlation coefficients and p values were calculated between the HRV variables and environmental measures during three distinct time periods of environmental activity. There were significant correlations between the group's HRV and solar wind speed, Kp, Ap, solar radio flux, cosmic ray counts, Schumann resonance power, and the total variations in the magnetic field. In addition, the time series data were time synchronized and normalized, after which all circadian rhythms were removed. It was found that the participants' HRV rhythms synchronized across the 31-day period at a period of approximately 2.5 days, even though all participants were in separate locations. Overall, this suggests that daily autonomic nervous system activity not only responds to changes in solar and geomagnetic activity, but is synchronized with the time-varying magnetic fields associated with geomagnetic field-line resonances and Schumann resonances.