PubMed · 6819628
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N Kleitman. 1982. Basic rest-activity cycle--22 years later.. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep%2F5.4.311
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Ingestion of soft faeces derived from caecal contents, caecotrophy, in herbivorous small mammals is considered an adaptation to the metabolic disadvantage of small body size, especially when feeding on diets of low quality. We investigated daily activity patterns in captive Brandt's voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii), including feeding, locomotion, caecotrophy, and defaecation, by continuous 24 h visual observation; and estimated the contribution of soft faeces ingestion (caecotrophy) to intake of protein and energy. Brandt's voles ingested 68.8 +/- 7.4 fecal pellets per day, averaging 17 +/- 2% of total faeces produced. The amount of faeces ingested did not differ between female and male voles or between night and day time. All animals showed average 3 h ultradian cycles in behaviour during the course of the day and night. The contributions of caecotrophy to the dietary intake of crude protein and metabolizable energy were estimated respectively as 9 and 8% on a high-protein, easily digested commercial rabbit pellet diet. However, the importance of caecotrophy to the field voles is likely to be higher on a natural diet of lower nutrient density. The rhythm of caecotrophy in voles depended mainly on the rhythm of the colonic separation mechanism in the proximal colon and passage in the distal colon, and may be regulated by feeding and other activity rhythms. Ultradian rhythms in caecotrophy helped to minimise potential conflicts in utilizing the gut, especially in balancing the caecal fermentation and salvaging nutrients contained in caecal bacteria.
The existence of food anticipatory activity (FAA) in animals subjected to daily feeding schedules seems to be mediated by a feeding-entrainable oscillator (FEO). Such an FEO may help in anticipating meal time and so optimizing food acquisition and nutrient utilization. In this study we investigated the existence of FAA and whether digestive enzymes, plasma cortisol, hypothalamic NPY and gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and plasma melatonin were entrained by periodic feeding in goldfish. We observed that periodically fed goldfish showed FAA in locomotor activity as well as in amylase and NPY. Alkaline protease and GIT melatonin were higher after feeding, whereas plasma cortisol levels were reduced. Plasma melatonin remained unmodified before and after meal time. These results suggested that scheduled feeding entrained both behavioral and certain physiological patterns in goldfish, FAA being of adaptive value to anticipate a meal and prepare the digestive physiology of fish.
The electric organ discharge (EOD) of weakly electric fish encodes information about species, sex, behavioral, and physiological states throughout the lifetime. Its central command is crucial for sensory-motor coordination, and is therefore the target of plastic mechanisms that adapt fish to environmental and social challenges. The EOD waveform of Brachyhypopomus pinnicaudatus is modulated by environmental factors and the neuroendocrine system. In this study we investigate the effects of water temperature and day-night cycle upon EOD rate in this species during the breeding and non-breeding seasons. During the non-breeding season, EOD rate is a linear function of water temperature and exhibits counterclockwise hysteresis. During breeding, a thermal resistance strategy prevents the decrease of EOD rate to cooling. A nocturnal increase of EOD basal rate independent of water temperature and locomotor activity was demonstrated in isolated non-breeding adults and in male-female dyads all year round. An additional increase of nocturnal EOD rate, probably acting as a social courtship signal, was found in breeding dyads. This additional increase of nocturnal EOD rate could not be fully explained by gonadal maturation and was modulated by social stimuli. This study provides novel data on the complex interactions between environment, reproductive cycle, social behavior, and electromotor output in an advantageous model of the vertebrate central nervous system.