Nesting chinstrap penguins accrue large quantities of sleep through seconds-long microsleeps
P-A Libourel1, W Y Lee2, I Achin1
1Neuroscience Research Center of Lyon, Bron, France.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|November 30, 2023
Summary
Chinstrap penguins utilize microsleeps, brief awakenings with sleep brain activity, for over 11 hours daily. This suggests even short sleep bouts provide essential restorative functions for vigilance.
Area of Science:
- Animal behavior
- Neuroscience
- Sleep science
Background:
- Microsleeps are brief awakenings with sleep-related brain activity, potentially too short for restorative functions.
- Animals requiring constant vigilance may adopt microsleeping as a survival strategy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate electroencephalographically defined sleep in wild chinstrap penguins.
- To determine if microsleeps fulfill essential sleep functions in animals with high vigilance needs.
Main Methods:
- Electroencephalography (EEG) was used to record sleep in chinstrap penguins.
- Sleep patterns were analyzed in penguins both at sea and while nesting in Antarctica.
- Data was collected from over 10,000 microsleep events per day.
Main Results:
- Penguins exhibited over 10,000 microsleeps daily, averaging 4 seconds each.
- Both bihemispheric and unihemispheric slow-wave sleep occurred.
- Over 11 hours of sleep per hemisphere were accumulated through microsleeps.
Conclusions:
- Microsleeps can provide significant sleep benefits, accumulating over 11 hours per hemisphere.
- The extensive use of microsleeps by breeding penguins suggests incremental benefits of sleep.
- This challenges the notion that only long sleep durations are restorative.
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