SEMINAR:
  A Bird's Eye View of Sleep
  - School of Anatomy, Physiology & Human Biology Seminar Series
		
Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:00 - Seminar room 1.81,  Anatomy, Physiology & Human Biology building North, UWA
		
Dr John Lesku, School of Anatomy, Physiology & Human Biology, UWA
The Seminar: In mammals, including humans, there are two types of sleep.
The function of the brain activity underlying these states, called rapid
eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM sleep, is an unresolved question in
biology.  Natural interspecific variation in sleep can constitute a
powerful resource to identify the significance of these states.
Notably, the study of birds, as the only animals outside of mammals to
engage in REM and non-REM sleep, may provide unique insight into the
evolution and function of these states by revealing overriding patterns
common to both lineages.  Such value is particularly salient because the
similarity in sleep between mammals and birds appears to have arisen
independently through convergent evolution.  Here, I highlight three
examples for the unique contribution of avian sleep towards our
understanding of REM and non-REM sleep in mammals.  By doing so, I
emphasise that comparisons of sleeping mammals and birds can reveal
general aspects of sleep that might not be evident using a strictly
mammalian-based research approach.

The Speaker: John completed his PhD at the Max Planck Institute for
Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany, on the evolution and regulation of
avian sleep.  In 2011, he was awarded a University Postdoctoral Research
Fellowship at the University of Western Australia.  His research
interests focus on the ecology and evolution of sleep, trade-offs
between sleep and vigilance, the co-evolution of sleep and brain
function, local aspects of sleep homeostasis, the influence of predation
risk on sleep in prey, and measuring sleep in the wild.
		
URL: http://www.aphb.uwa.edu.au/research/seminars
		
For more information:
  Debbie Hull
  debbie.hull@uwa.edu.au
  6488 3313

Starts       : Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:00
Ends         : Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:00
		
Last Updated : Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:21