Sleep and hibernation in ground squirrels (Citellus spp): electrophysiological observations

Abstract

Electroencephalogram (EEG), electrooculogram, electromyogram, and electrocardiogram were recorded from ground squirrels (Citellus beldingi and C. lateralis) during the summer and also during the hibernation season. Summer recordings revealed that the animals spent an average of 66% of the 24-h period asleep (49% of the 12-h light period and 84% of the 12-h dark period); 19% of the total sleep time (TST) consisted of rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, and 81% of TST consisted of slow-wave sleep (SWS). Recordings obtained during the hibernation season showed that hibernation was entered through sleep, but the distribution of sleep states was different than in euthermic sleep. During the early entrance when brain temperature (Tbr) was between 35 and 25 degrees C, the animals were asleep 88% of the time, but only 10% of the TST was spent in REM sleep. The EEG amplitude declined with decreased Tbr so that classical sleep stages could not be identified below a Tbr of 25 degrees C. The frequency of the EEG increased as Tbr decreased; but activity in the 0-4 cycles/s band occupied the majority of the record even at a Tbr of 10 degrees C. Below a Tbr of 10 degrees C the EEG was isoelectric except for intermittent bursts of spindles. It was concluded from these and other results that the entrance into hibernation represents an extension of the thermoregulatory adjustments that occur during SWS.