MAIN GOALS AND TASKS

The group has been organized in 1989 to study physiological organization of a sleep-waking cycle in various species of marine mammals: dolphins, seals, fur seals, etc. Field studies are performed mainly at the Utrish Marine Station of the Institute as well as abroad. Comparative investigations of sleep are carried out also in wild terrestrial mammals: predators, carnivors, rodents, etc. Besides, experimental studies of humoral regulators of sleep, including peptides, are being performed.