Rhythmical Electrical Events as Indicators for Biological
Actions of Homeopathic Remedies
by Prof. Dr. Lothar Meyer, Abt. Neuroanatomie, Universität Göttingen
01/98 - 12/98
(I) weakly electric African fish (mormyrids) that are known to modify their electric organ discharge rate in dependence of water quality changes;
(II) weakly electric South American fish (gymnotids) that discharge their electric organ with unequaled temporal precision, at rates of several hundred Hz;
(III) guinea-pigs that display ocular nystagmus after unilateral functional labyrinthine lesions.
Electric organ activity and ocular nystagmus are monitored by electrophysiological techniques and data analysis is performed by electronic means.
ad I
Mormyrid fish emit electric fields for orientation in the environment and for communication with conspecifics. Their electric discharges consist of short pulses that are generated by an electric organ in the fish tail. The frequency varies depending on several factors including alterations of the water quality. Consequently, these teleosts have been employed to monitor the safety of city water supplies.
In the course of the present experimentation two types of tests are performed on mormyrids. First, several homeopathic remedies are tested for their possible influence on fish behavior, i.e., the frequency of electric organ discharges which is known to increase when the fish are aroused. Second, heavy metals are added to the aquarium water until an automated system detects a statistically significant alteration of the electric organ discharge rate. Using this determined threshold of poison effects homeopathic dilutions of the same substance are administered prior to or simultaneously with the metal exposition. It is being tested whether the homeopathic remedy increases the animal's tolerance to the dissolved heavy metals.
ad II
Gymnotid fish generate sine wave-like electric fields to orientate themselves in waters with low visibility. Normally, the emitted frequency is maintained with extreme precision. It is only altered under certain social situations and in response to changes of the water temperature.
In fish that are kept individually, the gymnotid electric organ discharge is the most precise biological event known. This study will determine whether frequency changes can be induced by homeopathic remedies and thus test for a possible biological action of these remedies in very high dilutions.
ad III
Acute reduction of the spontaneous activity of one vestibular organ causes vertigo, postural asymmetries of the body, and interferes with oculomotor control systems, i.e., unilateral labyrinthine lesions which result in ocular nystagmus. In humans, the frequency of nystagmus eye movements is correlated with the impairment of patient well-being. It decreases as central compensatory mechanisms restore bilaterally equal levels of activity in brainstem neuronal circuits. Therefore, recording the nystagmus after chloroform application to one middle ear by extra-cutaneous EEC-electrodes makes it possible to monitor the vigor of lesion-induced symptoms as well as the advance of adaptive neural processes that eventually abolish labyrinthectomy symptoms. Post-lesion nystagmography will be applied to quantify possible influences that are exerted by homeopathic remedies on vertigo (measurements of the nystagmus frequency immediately after unilateral elimination of labyrinthine function) and/or on neuroplastic events underlying compensatory responses of the central nervous system (determination of the rate of nystagmus frequency decrease).
Currently, the tests outlined are being performed on pilot study level. The tests are to identify a promising animal model for thorough analysis of possible influences of highly diluted homeopathic remedies on rhythmic biological events that can be identified solely by electronic measurements.
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