Eye state asymmetry during aquatic unihemispheric slow wave sleep in northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus).

ABSTRACT: Unihemispheric slow wave sleep (USWS) is a unique form of sleep in which one brain hemisphere maintains low voltage electrical activity indicative of waking while the opposite exhibits slow wave electrical activity indicative of sleep. USWS is present in several marine mammals and in some species of birds. One proposed biological function of USWS is to enable the animal to monitor the environment to detect predators or conspecifics. While asymmetrical eye state was often observed during behavioral sleep in birds and marine mammals, electrophysiological (electroencephalogram, EEG) correlates between the asymmetry of eye state and EEG of two cortical hemispheres have not been reliably established. This study examined the association between eye state and EEG activity during aquatic sleep in

SUBMITTER: Kendall-Bar JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6530852 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature