• Neuroecology
• Sleep
• Chiroptera biology
• Metabolism
• Evolution

I have been trying to use EEG, EMG, and video recordings to evaluate sleep and activity in bats. I initially began working with Mexican free-tailed bats for 1-2 semesters, but the skull was too small to get accurate EEG recordings. I have plans to return to working with these bats later on. I am now working with Jamaican fruit-eating bats and have long-term EEG/EMG recordings of an isolated bat and a group-housed bat. I also have preliminary video recordings and am working on identifying a sleep-specific posture. I have found evidence of non-rem spindles and have found that bats sleep primarily during the light period, but also a significant amount during the dark period. The sleep bouts and REM bouts appear to be short, similar to mice, but possibly even shorter. The data is still being refined, and we will be repeating experiments in a larger sample size when we receive our equipment back from being repaired by the manufacturer.

Publications:

Hutton, P., Lloyd, E., Dotson, M., & Keene, A. C. (2023). Sleep behavior analysis in Astyanax Mexicanus. Emerging Model Organisms, 235–247. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2875-1_16