Sleep in the Fur Seal

睡眠的功能或睡眠如何被调节的细节仍然未知。 海豹睡觉时只使用一半大脑（左侧或右侧）。 只有海豹和海豚有这种睡眠。 与海豚不同，海豹不仅有这种“半睡眠”，而且在某些情况下可以以传统的方式睡眠，大脑的两侧都睡着了。 海豹独特的睡眠使我们能够将大脑的睡眠和非睡眠部分与正常睡眠进行比较，以确定睡眠是如何控制的，以及它的功能可能是什么，这是现代生物学尚未回答的问题之一。 数据收集将在黑海（俄罗斯）的Utrish海洋站进行，利用世界上唯一能够进行这项工作的设施。数据分析将在UCLA进行。海狗的睡眠生物学将通过遥测、神经化学测量和记录脑电波来研究。 然后将电极移除并释放密封件。 这些研究对于理解睡眠生理学的几个基本问题具有重要意义，包括睡眠期间脑电波控制机制，唤醒机制以及大脑控制感觉和运动功能的机制。

The functions of sleep or the details of how it is regulated remain unknown. Seals sleep with one half of their brain (left or right side) at a time. Only seals and dolphins have this kind of sleep. Unlike dolphins, seals not only have this "half sleep," but can under some circumstances sleep in the conventional way, with both sides of the brain asleep. The unique sleep of seals allows us to compare the sleeping and non-sleeping halves of the brain with normal sleep to determine how sleep is controlled and what its function might be, one of the great unanswered questions of modern biology. Data collection will be performed at the Utrish Marine Station on the Black Sea (Russia), taking advantage of the only facility in the world able to carry out this work. The analysis of the data will be conducted at UCLA. The biology of sleep in the fur seal will be studied using telemetry, neurochemical measures and by recording brain waves. Then electrodes will be removed and the seals released. The proposed studies have important implications for the understanding of several fundamental problems of sleep physiology, including the mechanisms of brain wave control, the mechanisms of arousal and brain control of sensory and motor functions during sleep.