Magnetophosphenes

Jerry W. Decker ( (no email) )
Wed, 11 Mar 1998 15:58:17 -0800

Hi Folks!

This interesting post was sent to the vortex list;

"Normally, people are not able to sense the presence of very high
10-1,000 mG magnetic fields; however, extremely high levels exceeding
100 Gauss (100,000 mG) will cause a temporary visual flickering
sensation called magnetophosphenes which disappears when the field is
removed. "

from: http://www.mnsinc.com/emf/pub7.html

I've never heard of this -- anyone know of other refs to the "effect"?
What causes it? Magnetic distortion of synaptic transmissions?
......
There was a company who made goggles which fit over the eyes...by
pressing on your eyelids you can produce flashes perceptible to your
vision. It was basically a dot matrix printer arrangement with many
small padded effectors to push against the eye to form patterns.

I always thought this was far too dangerous, risking damage to the eye
for visual entertainment...I'll pass....I'd take DMT and talk to the
elves before doing that to my eyes.

--                Jerry W. Decker  /   jdecker@keelynet.com          http://keelynet.com   /  "From an Art to a Science"       Voice : (214) 324-8741   /   FAX :  (214) 324-3501   KeelyNet - PO BOX 870716 - Mesquite - Republic of Texas - 75187