A number of studies have successfully used electrocardiogram (ECG) signals to characterize complex physiological phenomena such as associative learning in bats. However, at present, no thorough characterization of the structure of ECG signals is available for these animals. The aim of the present study was to quantitatively characterize features of the ECG signals in the bat species Carollia perspicillata, a species that is commonly used in neuroethology studies. Our results show that the ECG signals of C. perspicillata follow the typical mammalian pattern, in that they are composed by a P wave, QRS complex and a T wave. Peak-to-peak amplitudes in the bats' ECG signals were larger in measuring configurations in which one of the electrodes was attached to the right thumb. In addition, large differences in the instantaneous heart rate (HR) distributions were observed between ketamine/xylazine anesthetized and awake bats. Ketamine/xylazine might target the neural circuits that control HR, therefore, instantaneous HR measurements should only be used as physiological marker in awake animals.
Keywords: Anaesthesia; Bats; Bradycardia; Electrocardiogram (ECG); Heart rate; Variability.