Sleep affects the color of the owl?

(Do you have a baby sleeping like a child?) Owls spend more time in REM sleep than adults.

REM sleep is a period of rapid eye movement, alternating between normal sleep (quiet sleep).

Young birds have sleep patterns similar to those of mammals, and their sleep changes in the same way as mammalian juveniles when they grow up. This is what a research group from La Planne's Max Planck Research Institute for Pathology and University discovered when studying the owl in nature.

The team also discovered that sleep changes are closely related to the expression of a gene involved in the formation of dark, dark hairs, a trait known to be associated with behavioral and physiological characteristics in adult owls. These research results promote an intriguing possibility that sleep-related processes in the brain contribute to the association between melanoma and other features observed in owl and other animals.

Animal sleep and bird sleep consist of two phases, REM sleep phase (Eye Movement Sleep) and REM sleepless. We experience most vivid dreams during REM sleep, a paradoxical phase expressed by brain activity like when we wake up. Despite extensive research, the purpose of REM sleep is still a mystery.

One of the most striking features of REM sleep is its predominance in early life. A variety of mammals spend much more time on REM sleep when they are younger than they were when they were adults. For example, at birth, half of our sleep time in REM sleep, while REM sleep last night can only account for about 20-25% of your sleep.

Although birds are the only non-mammalian group known for REM sleep, it is unclear whether sleep develops similarly in young birds. Therefore, Niels Rattenborg of MPIO, Alexandre Roulin of Unil and Madeleine Scriba student, reviewed this question in a owl population in the wild world. They used EEG electroencephalography and motion data combining minimal invasive electroencephalogram sensors designed for use in humans, to record the sleep of 66 young owls at age. different.

During the follow-up, the baby owls are still in their nest and are cared for by their parents. After recording the sleep patterns of these owls for 5 days, the data receivers are removed. All of these cubs have returned and returned and still maintain normal fertility in the following years, indicating that no long-term side effects of EEG have been applied to the inner brain. the sleep of the birds.

Despite the lack of necessary eye movements (a common feature of owls), the baby owls still spend a great amount of time on REM sleep.

'During this sleep phase, the EEG of the baby owl shows alert activity, their eyes are still closed, and their heads have slowed down,' said Madeleine Scriba from the University of Lausanne.

More importantly, the researchers found that, like in children, the time spent in REM sleep decreases as the baby grows.

In addition, the team looked at the relationship between sleep and the expression of a gene in bird feathers associated with dark and dark hair spots.

"As in some species of poultry and other mammals, we have discovered that the melanoma in owls is associated with many physiological and behavioral traits, many of which also have links. with sleep, such as the function of immune system and energy regulation , " Alexander Roulin from the University of Lausanne emphasized. In fact, the team found that baby owls expressing higher levels of melanin-related genes had fewer REM sleeps than predicted at their age, suggesting that the brains These birds have grown faster than those in the owl that show lower levels of the gene.

In accordance with this explanation, the enzymes encoded by this gene also play a role in the production of hormones (thyroid and insulin) related to brain development.

Although additional research is needed to determine exactly how sleep, brain development and pigmentation are related to each other, the results of this study nonetheless generate a number of sentences. ask interesting. Is there any change in sleep in brain development that affects the organization of mature brain? If so, does this contribute to the link between behavioral and physiological characteristics with melanin that are closely related to adult owls? Sleep and pigmentation are involved in adult owls, and if so, how does this affect their behavior and physiology?

Finally, Niels Rattenborg from the Max Planck Institute for Obstetrics at Seewiesen hopes that: "this change occurs naturally during REM sleep during a brain development period that can be used to clarify REM sleep. contribute to brain development in young owls, as well as in humans'.