The effect of high (>1000 V/mm) electric fields on solutions of a lyotropic liquid-crystalline polymer, poly(n-hexyl isocyanate) in p-xylene, is presented. The concentrations are adjusted such that the solutions are strictly within the isotropic phase domain region, thus exhibiting no spontaneous liquid crystallinity. The effects of field strength, frequency, and concentration are varied and the morphological changes are noted. The results are analyzed with birefringence measurements via comparison with the optical Kerr effect. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.