Re: Evolution of sleep

On Apr 26, 2:22=A0pm, "WG" <wgilm...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

You could just as easily do a study on injuries and find that organisms =
=3D
injure themselves significantly less while asleep than when they are =3D
awake. But would we conclude that sleep evolved to prevent injury?=3D20

Fish do not sleep as mammals sleep. They do not undergo REM, and
their brain waves don't change shape. Yet, fish have dormant periods.
Diurnal fish stand still and stop hunting at night. Nocturnal fish
stand still and stop hunting during the day. The sharks in an aquarium
near me, after feeding, lie on the bottom and stand still.
I think this dormant period of fish is clearly to avoid predation.
Although this is not sleep as mammals know it, it could be a
preadaption toward sleep. There is no reason to lie dormant at night,
in diurnal creatures, other than to avoid predation.
Our ancestors could have had dormant periods just like a fish.
However, later mutations took advantage of this built in dormant
period to repair brain cells, augment the immune system, etc.
The pineal gland is used by fish to regulate its metabolism during
the day. We use it to regulate our sleep cycle. Since fish don't have
a true sleep, I would guess the pineal body helps regulate the periods
of dormancy. The fact that we use it for true sleep suggests to me
that the function of the pineal body was augmented later.
However, I am not sure. I wonder if the dormant period does
augment the microbial defense system?
I propose that we do "dormancy deprivation studies" of fish. Maybe
the dormant period has more than one function.

.

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