Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Half-awake to the risk of predation

Nature volume 397, pages 397–398 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Birds have overcome the problem of sleeping in risky situations by developing the ability to sleep with one eye open and one hemisphere of the brain awake1. Such unihemispheric slow-wave sleep is in direct contrast to the typical situation in which sleep and wakefulness are mutually exclusive states of the whole brain. We have found that birds can detect approaching predators during unihemispheric slow-wave sleep, and that they can increase their use of unihemispheric sleep as the risk of predation increases. We believe this is the first evidence for an animal behaviourally controlling sleep and wakefulness simultaneously in different regions of the brain.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The relation between eye state and standardized EEG power (1-6 Hz) for the left and right hemispheres of birds occupying central and edge positions.

References

  1. Ball, N. J., Amlaner, C. J., Shaffery, J. P. & Opp, M. R. in Sleep '86 (eds Koella, W. P., Obál, F., Schulz, H. & Visser, P.) 151-153 (Fischer, New York, 1988).

  2. Oleksenko, A. I., Mukhametov, L. M., Polyakova, I. G., Supin, A. Y. & Kovalzon, V. M. J. Sleep Res. 1, 40–44 (1992).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Lima, S. L. Adv. Study Behav. 27, 215–290 (1998).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Elgar, M. A. Biol. Rev. 64, 13–33 (1989).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Amlaner, C. J. & Ball, N. J. in Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine 2nd edn (eds Kryger, M. H., Roth, T. & Dement, W. C.) 81-94 (Saunders, Philadelphia, 1994).

  6. Hoffmann, R. F., Moffitt, A. R., Shearer, J. C., Sussman, P. S. & Wells, R. B. Waking Sleeping. 3, 1–16 (1979).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Schaeffel, F., Howland, H. C. & Farkas, L. Vision Res. 26, 1977–1993 (1986).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Bredenkötter, M. & Bischof, H. -J. Vis. Neurosci. 5, 155–163 (1990).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Rechtschaffen, A., Gilliland, M. A., Bergmann, B. M. & Winter, J. B. Science 221, 182–184 (1983).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Sciences, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, 47809, Indiana, USA

    Niels C. Rattenborg, Steven L. Lima & Charles J. Amlaner

Authors
  1. Niels C. Rattenborg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Steven L. Lima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Charles J. Amlaner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rattenborg, N., Lima, S. & Amlaner, C. Half-awake to the risk of predation. Nature 397, 397–398 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/17037

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/17037

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing