Effect of reserpine administration on sleep patterns was studied in chronically implanted adult turtles Gopherus berlandieri. Four states of vigilance that differed behaviorally and electrophysiologically were observed: active wakefulness, quiet wakefulness, quiet sleep, and active sleep. Animals spent 88 and 2.92% of the nychthemeral cycle in quiet and active sleep, respectively. The active sleep phases were of short duration reaching a mean of 22 ± 6 sec (mean ± SD) and showing an occurrence of 124 ± 33 (mean ± SD) throughout the 24-h period. High voltage spikes were observed during quiet sleep at a frequency of 37 ± 9 spikes/min (mean ± SD). Reserpine elicited a significant reduction in total sleep time and in the occurrence of high voltage spikes (P < 0.05). The number of active sleep episodes showed an important decrement throughout the nychthemeral cycle (P < 0.01). Our data provide electrophysiological and pharmacological evidence to support the analogy of reptilian and mammalian sleep. Drug Dev. Res. 39:115–120 © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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