Effect of the hypomagnetic field on the size of the eye pupil

Abstract

Previously, we reported that the hypomagnetic field obtained by the 100-fold deprivation of the geomagnetic field affected human cognitive processes as estimated in several computer tests. The exposure to the hypomagnetic field caused a statistically significant increase both in the task processing time and in the number of errors. The magnitude of this magnetic effect, averaged over 40 healthy subjects and more than 10^5 separate trials, was about 1.7%. In the present work, the results of a simultaneous study are described, in which the right eye of each subject was video recorded, while the subject performed the tasks. It has appeared that the pupil size grows in the hypomagnetic field. This effect has been calculated based on the treatment of a large data set of about 6.10^6 video frames. Averaged all over the frames, the magnetic effect on the pupil area was about 1.6%, with high statistical confidence. This is the first laboratory study in which the number of separate trials has been large enough to obtain rather smooth distribution functions. Thus, the small effect of the hypomagnetic field on humans has become evident and statistically valid.