Sleep in the Fur Seal

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

The functions of sleep or the details of how it is regulated remain unknown. Seals sleep with one half of their brain (left or right side) at a time. Only seals and dolphins have this kind of sleep. Unlike dolphins, seals not only have this "half sleep," but can under some circumstances sleep in the conventional way, with both sides of the brain asleep. The unique sleep of seals allows us to compare the sleeping and non-sleeping halves of the brain with normal sleep to determine how sleep is controlled and what its function might be, one of the great unanswered questions of modern biology. Data collection will be performed at the Utrish Marine Station on the Black Sea (Russia), taking advantage of the only facility in the world able to carry out this work. The analysis of the data will be conducted at UCLA. The biology of sleep in the fur seal will be studied using telemetry, neurochemical measures and by recording brain waves. Then electrodes will be removed and the seals released. The proposed studies have important implications for the understanding of several fundamental problems of sleep physiology, including the mechanisms of brain wave control, the mechanisms of arousal and brain control of sensory and motor functions during sleep.