Date: April 25, 2019
Source: Penn State
Songbirds
that pack on as much as 50 percent of their body weight before migrating and
that sleep very little, exhibit altered immune system and tissue-repair
function during the journey, which may hold implications for human health,
according to Penn State researchers.
"Imagine
if you became morbidly obese before running a marathon, you didn't sleep for a
few days before competing -- and you performed so well that you win," said
lead researcher Paul Bartell, associate professor of avian biology. "Then,
consider that you were protected from the cardiovascular and metabolic disease
that normally would result from either obesity or long-term sleep deprivation.
That's the example I like to use to illustrate how amazing the changes are that
occur in these birds to allow migration." Although similar changes occur
in other songbirds that make their migration flights at night, the species that
Bartell refers to is the white-throated sparrow. His research group, based in
the College of Agricultural Sciences, studied the birds' physiological
mechanisms that confer protection against the consequences of sleep deprivation
while simultaneously allowing for the increased physical performance required
for migration.
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