Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS.
Department of Psychobiology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2022 Mar 1;61(2):165-172. doi: 10.30802/AALAS-JAALAS-21-000027. Epub 2022 Jan 10.
Rhesus monkeys are naturally social animals, and behavioral management strategies have focused on promoting pairhousing in laboratory settings as an alternative to individual or group housing. In humans, co-sleeping can have a major impact on bed partners' sleep, raising the possibility that pair-housing also may influence sleep parameters in monkeys. In the present study, we investigated if pair-housing would impact home-cage partner's sleep in female rhesus monkeys, and if nighttime separation using socialization panels would alter this pattern. Sleep parameters of 10 experimentally naïve adult female rhesus monkeys (5 pairs) were evaluated for 7 consecutive days using actigraphy monitors attached to primate collars. Paired animals then were separated by socialization panels during the night, and sleep-associated measures were evaluated for 7 consecutive days. The data showed that sleep efficiency was significantly lower when monkeys were pairhoused as compared with when they were separated. On the nights when subjects were pair-housed, a positive correlation was detected for sleep measures (both sleep latency and efficiency) of both members of a pair (R2's = 0.16-0.5), suggesting that pair-housing influences sleep quality. On nights when subjects were separated, no correlations were observed for sleep measures between members of the pairs (R2's = 0.004-0.01), suggesting that when separated, the home-cage partner's sleep no longer influenced the partner's sleep. Our results indicate that pair-housing has a strong impact on the home-cage partner's sleep, and that this pattern can be prevented by nighttime separation using socialization panels. Studies evaluating sleep in pair-housed monkeys should consider the effects that the partner's sleep may have on the subject's sleep. Sleep is a biologic phenomenon and experimental outcome that affects physical and behavioral health and altered sleep due to pair-housing may affect a range of research outcomes.
恒河猴是天生的群居动物，行为管理策略侧重于在实验室环境中推广对猴进行成对饲养，以替代单独或群体饲养。在人类中，同睡可能会对同床者的睡眠产生重大影响，这使得成对饲养也可能会影响猴子的睡眠参数。在本研究中，我们调查了成对饲养是否会影响雌性恒河猴的笼内伴侣的睡眠，以及使用社交化板进行夜间分离是否会改变这种模式。使用安装在灵长类动物项圈上的活动记录仪，对 10 只实验性初养成年雌性恒河猴（5 对）的睡眠参数进行了 7 天连续评估。然后，在夜间使用社交化板将配对动物分开，并对 7 天连续的睡眠相关测量值进行评估。数据显示，与分开饲养相比，当猴子成对饲养时，睡眠效率明显较低。当研究对象成对饲养时，一对中两个成员的睡眠测量值（包括睡眠潜伏期和效率）呈正相关（R2 为 0.16-0.5），这表明成对饲养会影响睡眠质量。当研究对象分开饲养时，配对成员之间的睡眠测量值没有相关性（R2 为 0.004-0.01），这表明当分开饲养时，笼内伴侣的睡眠不再影响伴侣的睡眠。我们的结果表明，成对饲养对笼内伴侣的睡眠有很大影响，并且可以通过夜间使用社交化板分离来预防这种情况。评估成对饲养猴子睡眠的研究应考虑伴侣睡眠对实验对象睡眠的影响。睡眠是一种生物学现象，也是一种实验结果，它会影响身体健康和行为，而由于成对饲养导致的睡眠改变可能会影响一系列研究结果。
