Affiliation:
1. Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Abstract
The dragon sleeps tonight
Most animal species sleep, from invertebrates to primates. However, neuroscientists have until now only actively recorded the sleeping brains of birds and mammals. Shein-Idelson
et al.
now describe the electrophysiological hallmarks of sleep in reptiles. Recordings from the brains of Australian dragons revealed the typical features of slow-wave sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. These findings indicate that the brainstem circuits responsible for slow-wave and REM sleep are not only very ancient but were already involved in sleep dynamics in reptiles.
Science
, this issue p.
590
Funder
Max Planck Society
European Research Council
Minerva Foundation
Swiss National Science Foundation
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)