Meeting Abstract

P3.187  Sunday, Jan. 6  The effects of chronic stress on sleep in house sparrows (Passer domesticus) NELSON, L.; COX, L.; HYMES, S.; WOODWORTH, E.; BOWLIN, M.S.*; University of Michigan-Dearborn; University of Michigan-Dearborn; University of Michigan-Dearborn; University of Michigan-Dearborn; University of Michigan-Dearborn melissabowlin@gmail.com

Sleep is an important phenomenon in the animal kingdom, yet its function(s) and origin remain elusive. We investigated the relationship between stress and sleep in birds by exposing four house sparrows (Passer domesticus) to a chronic stress protocol, sensu Cyr et al. (2007). Using an infrared camera system, we recorded the nighttime sleep behavior of these birds for two weeks before, during, and after the chronic stress protocol. We are currently in the process of measuring the latency to sleep, the number, timing, and length of arousals, and the amount of head-forward and head-backward sleep each bird exhibited each night. To date, we have found few clear changes in the quantity or quality of sleep during the chronic stress period compared to the initial control period. This may be because there is little or no effect of chronic stress on sleep in house sparrows; alternatively, the sparrows may not have been fully acclimated to captivity or to the experimental setup prior to the initiation of the chronic stress protocol. We plan to repeat the experiment on birds that have spent more time in captivity and in the plexiglass cages we use to record sleep behavior.