Nadine Rampf

Stellenbosch University | SUN · Clinical Anatomy

Introduction Insufficient sleep adversely affects the physiological and psychological well-being of children and their families. Reports indicate that children's sleep health is declining; however, comparable data on the South African pediatric population is lacking. To this end, the current study aimed to explore the sleep quality and sleep hygien...

Rest is a state of adaptive inactivity that increases the efficiency of activity by regulating its timing and reducing energy use when activity is not beneficial. Thus, animals can go without rest when specific demands, such as mating, favour being awake. Sexually active male blue wildebeest (bulls) are typically territorial, and it has been report...

Most studies examining sleep in mammals are done under controlled conditions in laboratory/zoological facilities with few studies being conducted in their natural environment. It is not always possible to record sleep polysomnographically (PSG) from animals in their natural environments, as PSG is invasive, requiring the surgical implantation of el...

Here we report the unusual presence of thalamic reticular neurons immunoreactive for tyrosine hydroxylase in equids. The diencephalons of one adult male of four equid species, domestic donkey (Equus africanus asinus), domestic horse (Equus caballus), Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) and plains zebra (Equus quagga), were sectioned in a corona...

The current study provides a detailed qualitative description of the organization of the cholinergic, catecholaminergic, serotonergic, orexinergic and GABAergic sleep‐related systems in the brain of the blue wildebeest (Connocheates taurinus), along with a quantitative analysis of the pontine cholinergic and noradrenergic neurons, and the hypothala...

The SAMRC brought key stakeholders representing all nine faculties of health sciences at South African universities together on 08 February 2017 at the SAMRC Medicina Campus, Cape Town, to explore opportunities for conducting local research and clinical trials of medicinal cannabis and cannabinoids to inform local policy-making. The workshop identi...

Study objectives The Arabian oryx lives under hyper-arid conditions in the Arabian Desert and exhibits temporal niche switching of activity patterns at a seasonal level. The objective of the current study was to provide a polysomnographic-based study of sleep in free-roaming Arabian oryx in their natural habitat to determine whether extreme seasona...

Arabian oryx, Oryx leucoryx, are members of the superorder Cetartiodactyla and belong within the family Bovidae. They are native to the Arabian Desert and are currently listed as “vulnerable” on the IUCN red data list. The current study describes the nuclear organization and neuronal morphology of the systems involved in the generation and control...

Abstract: Introduction: The Arabian oryx, a large mammal, successfully inhabits the Arabian deserts where climate undergoes extreme shifts seasonally. It is known the oryx employ multiple physiological and behavioural adaptions in order to survive: however, it is currently unknown whether such harsh conditions have led to the evolution of any neura...

Introduction: The Arabian oryx, a large desert dwelling mammal, successfully inhabits the Arabian deserts in which climate undergoes extreme shifts throughout the seasons of the year. Summer ambient temperatures often exceed general mammalian thermoneutral zones for prolonged periods. The Arabian oryx are known to employ multiple behavioural and ph...

The rock hyrax, Procavia capensis, is a highly social, diurnal mammal. In the current study several physiologically measurable parameters of sleep, as well as the accompanying behavior, were recorded continuously from five rock hyraxes, for 72 h under solitary (experimental animal alone in the recording chamber), and social conditions (experimental...

The Arabian oryx, a moderately large mammal that inhabits a harsh desert environment, has been shown to exhibit seasonal variations in activity and inactivity patterns. Here we analyzed the continuous year-round activity patterns of twelve free-roaming Arabian oryx under natural conditions from two varying desert environments in Saudi Arabia using...

The Arabian oryx, a moderately large mammal that inhabits a harsh desert environment, has been shown to exhibit seasonal variations in activity and inactivity patterns. Here we analyzed the continuous year-round activity patterns of twelve free-roaming Arabian oryx under natural conditions from two varying desert environments in Saudi Arabia using...

The current study provides details of sleep (or inactivity) in two wild, free-roaming African elephant matriarchs studied in their natural habitat with remote monitoring using an actiwatch subcutaneously implanted in the trunk, a standard elephant collar equipped with a GPS system and gyroscope, and a portable weather station. We found that these t...

The Arabian oryx inhabits an environment where summer ambient temperatures can exceed 40 °C for extended periods of time. While the oryx uses a suite of adaptations that aid survival, the effects of this extreme environment on inactivity are unknown. To determine how the oryx manages inactivity seasonally, we measured the daily rhythm of body tempe...

The Cape mole rat Georychus capensis is a solitary subterranean rodent found in the western and southern Cape of South Africa. This approximately 200-gram bathyergid rodent shows a nocturnal circadian rhythm, but sleep in this species is yet to be investigated. Using telemetric recordings of the electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyogram (EMG) i...

Arabian oryx, Oryx leucoryx, are members of the superorder Cetartiodactyla and belong within the family Bovidae. They are native to the Arabian Desert and are currently listed as " vulnerable " on the IUCN red data list. The current study describes the nuclear organization and neuronal morphology of the systems involved in the generation and contro...

The current study details the nuclear organization of the rock hyrax amygdaloid complex using both Nissl and myelin stains, along with a range of immunohistochemical stains. The rock hyrax appears to be the least derived of the Afrotherians, a group with a huge range of body phenotypes, life histories and specialized behaviours, brain sizes, and ec...

The current study used a range of standard and immunohistochemical neuroanatomical stains to investigate the architectural organization of the cerebral cortex of the sengis (elephant shrews). We were able to identify four distinct cortical morphotypes – a medial neocortical, a lateral neocortical, a cingulate and a piriform. While the architectural...

Adult neurogenesis in the mammalian brain is now a widely accepted phenomenon, typically occurring in two forebrain structures: the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the hippocampal dentate gyrus and the subventricular zone (SVZ). Until recently, the majority of studies have focused on laboratory rodents, and it is under debate whether the process of adult...

Quantitative analysis of the cellular composition of rodent, primate and eulipotyphlan brains has shown that non-neuronal scaling rules are similar across these mammalian orders that diverged about 95 million years ago, and therefore appear to be conserved in evolution, while neuronal scaling rules appear to be free to vary in evolution in a clade-...

To broaden the understanding of the neural control and evolution of the sleep-wake cycle in mammals, the distribution and interrelations of sleep associated nuclei with neurons and terminal networks expressing the calcium-binding proteins parvalbumin, calbindin and calretinin was explored in a rodent that lacks a significant visual system. The slee...

We investigated sleep in therock hyrax, Procavia capensis, a social mammal that typically lives in colonies on rocky outcrops throughout most parts of Southern Africa. The sleep of 5 wild-captured, adult rock hyraxes was recorded continuously for 72 h using telemetric relay of signals and allowing unimpeded movement. In addition to waking, slow wav...

In the present study, orexinergic cell bodies within the brains of rhythmic and arrhythmic circadian chronotypes from three species of African mole rat (Highveld mole rat-Cryptomys hottentotus pretoriae, Ansell's mole rat--Fukomys anselli and the Damaraland mole rat--Fukomys damarensis) were identified using immunohistochemistry for orexin-A. Immun...

The giant Zambian mole rat (Fukomys mechowii) is a subterranean Afrotropical rodent noted for its regressed visual system and unusual patterns of circadian rhythmicity--within this species some individuals exhibit distinct regular circadian patterns of locomotor activity while others have arrhythmic circadian patterns. The current study was aimed a...

The present study describes the distribution of orexin-A immunoreactive neurons and terminal networks in relation to the previously described catecholaminergic, cholinergic and serotonergic systems within the brain of the rock hyrax, Procavia capensis. Adult female rock hyrax brains were sectioned and immunohistochemically stained with an antibody...

The organization of the nuclear subdivisions of the cholinergic, putative catecholaminergic and serotonergic systems of the brain of the elephant shrew (Elephantulus myurus) were determined following immunohistochemistry for choline acetyltransferase, tyrosine hydroxylase and serotonin, respectively. This was done in order to determine if differenc...

The nuclear subdivisions of the cholinergic, putative catecholaminergic and serotonergic systems within the brain of the rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) were identified following immunohistochemistry for acetylcholinesterase, tyrosine hydroxylase and serotonin. The aim of the present study was to investigate possible differences in the complement of...

The current correspondence describes the in situ perfusion-fixation of the brain of the African elephant. Due to both the large size of proboscidean brains and the complex behaviour of these species, the acquisition of good quality material for comparative neuroanatomical analysis from these species is important. Three male African elephants (20-30...