A COMPARATIVE ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC STUDY OF SLEEP

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the variations which occur in the electroencephalograms, eyemovements and neckmuscle potentials of three species, the pigeon, rat and chicken during prolonged recording under normal conditions, under conditions in which the animals were fatigued, and after drugs had been admin istered. While the recordings from the rat showed the two stages of deep sleep typical of mammals, no distinctive "sleep" patterns were observed in the records from birds, except after nembutal had been given. The results seem to support the idea that birds do not sleep.