Normal EEG of the restrained twenty-four-hour-old Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica).
A new method for obtaining bipolar electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings from day-old Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) is described. The electrodes are chronically placed stainless steel suture wires sewn into the skull and secured with dental acrylic. Using this arrangement, recordings were made over the hyperstriatum accessorum and dorsoarchistriatum regions of the brain. These records showed a preponderance of high amplitude slow waves. Transitions to low amplitude fast waves were also evident, and rare instances of paradoxical sleep were noted. computerized frequency analyses of the recordings divided wave numbers into distinct groups over the 1 to 17 Hz range: 1 to 4 Hz, 4 to 8 Hz, 8 to 13 Hz, and 13 to 17 Hz. Frequencies of waves detectable across the hyperstriatum accessorum were primarily confined to the 1 to 7 Hz range, whereas waves generated around the dorsoarchistriatus showed more abundant high frequency patterns. Mean amplitude of the waves (10 to 50 muV) showed an inverse exponential relationship with frequency. The method described produced an EEG of good quality on unanesthetized birds with the electrode placement procedures requiring less than 30 min.
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D003201:Computers; D003370:Coturnix; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011784:Quail; D012149:Restraint, Physical