Abstract
[Purpose] To investigate the effect of sleep deprivation (SD) on the ambulatory activity (AA) of rats. [Subjects and Methods] Six male Sprague-Dawley rats aged 8 weeks were used. The animals were housed and acclimated for two weeks under a twelve-hour light/dark cycle in experimental cages equipped with a running wheel before applying the SD. The SD was started from the light on for six hours. Temperature and humidity conditions were properly controlled and food and water were given ad libitum throughout the experiment. Several AA parameters were measured and compared between before and after SD. [Results] The number of times of activity, average activity duration and total ambulatory distance were significantly reduced on the day of applying SD, compared to their values before SD, and average rest duration significantly increased. Additionally, a tendency of reduction of total activity and fragmentation of activity was also observed for a few days. [Conclusion] Acute SD showed a significant impact on activity and it may persist for a few days in the rat.
