Photo by jpMatth via Flickr Creative Commons
Birds show signs of stress resulting from sleep loss. A new study published in Physiological and Biochemical Zoology shows that zebra finches who are sleep deprived have increased expression of inflammatory genes in their fat tissues, spleen and hippocampus region of the brain along with increased levels of circulating stress hormones. The hippocampus is the region of the brain associated with long term memory formation. I wonder if sleep deprived birds are more forgetful too…
Source:
Cooper LN, Mishra I, Ashley NT. Short-term sleep loss alters cytokine gene expression in brain and peripheral tissues and increases plasma corticosterone of zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). Physiological and Biochemical Zoology. 92(1): 80-91, 2019.
Tags: bird, inflammation, memory, physiology, sleep, sleep deprivation, Stress
Life Lines by Dr. Dolittle 