magnetophosphene

noun

A flash of light seen when the optic nerve is subjected to a strong changing magnetic field (such as in an MRI).

Scrabble 29
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Meanings

nounmagnetophosphene (plural magnetophosphenes)

plural magnetophosphenes

  1. A flash of light seen when the optic nerve is subjected to a strong changing magnetic field (such as in an MRI).

    A number of transient phenomena were reported for human subjects in the first 4 T whole-body systems, including vertigo, difficulty in balancing after leaving the magnet, nausea, headache, numbness or tingling, magnetophosphenes, and an unusual metallic taste in the mouth.

    2010, Xiaoping Hu, David G. Norris, “Advances in high-field magnetic resonance imaging”, in Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering

Origin

From magneto- + phosphene.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

magnetophosphene. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/magnetophosphene

MLA

“magnetophosphene.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/magnetophosphene. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “magnetophosphene,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/magnetophosphene.

Source: magnetophosphene on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.