[The development of the activity-rest cycle in the rabbit fetus]

On 25-30-day rabbit foetuses, in chronic experiments using constant synchronous recording of the motor activity and heart rate, studies have been made of temporal organization of the activity-rest cycle. Already in 25-day foetus, three functional conditions may be distinguished: active, intermediate and resting ones, the duration of the latter increasing to the end of gestation up to 8-10 min, whereas the duration of the intermediate phase decreases, reaching its minimum to the 30th day if not being completely reduced. Cyclic pattern of active and resting phases is observed in 28-day foetuses; to the 29th-30th day, these phases from a unique activity-rest cycle, its duration reaching 20-30 min to the end of intrauterine period. It is suggested that the resting phase in foetal rabbits serves as a basis for the development of polyphasic sleep in adult animals.