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Thermal and nutritional modulation of sleep in infant rats
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Thermal and nutritional modulation of sleep in infant rats

Adele M H Seelke and Mark S Blumberg
Behavioral neuroscience, Vol.119(2), pp.603-611
04/2005
DOI: 10.1037/0735-7044.119.2.603
PMCID: PMC2658818
PMID: 15839806
url
http://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7044.119.2.603View
Open Access

Abstract

Infant rats cycle rapidly between periods of high muscle tone (indicative of wakefulness) and periods of atonia (indicative of sleep). Here, the influence of air temperature on sleep in 8-day-old rats was examined by testing pups at thermoneutrality (35 degrees C) and during moderate (28 degrees C) and extreme (20 degrees C) cold challenge; also, pups were tested 1, 4, and 8 hr after infusion of milk to assess the effects of food deprivation on sleep. Whereas moderate cooling slightly reduced sleep durations and altered the temporal patterning of myoclonic twitching, extreme cooling substantially decreased sleep durations and inhibited twitching. In contrast, food deprivation had little effect. Therefore, thermoregulatory mechanisms engaged during moderate cooling sustain sleep, whereas extreme cooling overwhelms these mechanisms, thereby promoting arousal.
Animals, Newborn Temperature Animals Body Temperature Regulation Rats Female Food Deprivation Male Nutritional Status Sleep - physiology

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