Evidence for Altered Monoamine Activity and Emotional and Cognitive Disturbance in Marmoset Monkeys Exposed to Early Life Stress

Abstract

In common marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus, order Primates), infants aged 2-28 days were deprived of parental care for 30-120 min/day in order to investigate the long-term effects of this neglect-stress model on affect and cognition in a primate species. Basal morning levels of urinary cortisol across the first year of life were unaffected in early deprived marmosets relative to their sibling controls. Basal morning levels of urinary dopamine were chronically increased. This peripheral increase in dopamine activity could represent a marker for central dopamine hyperactivity. Certainly, subadult early deprived marmosets exhibited performance deficits in two dopamine-regulated neuropsychological tasks. They demonstrated: (1) impaired behavioral inhibition in an object reaching with detour task, exhibiting significantly more nonreinforced forward reaches to a reward visible inside a cube that could only be retrieved through an opening to the side of the cube; and (2) impaired reversal learning in a two-way discrimination task based on visual icons presented on a touch-sensitive computer screen. These findings provide further evidence for the relevance of this novel primate model of parent-infant neglect to the environmental causes and mechanisms of human developmental psychopathology.

Effects of maternal investment, temperament, and cognition on guide dog success

“…Although long maternal separations are universally acknowledged to have deleterious consequences (e.g., refs. [61][62][63][64], studies in squirrel monkeys show that repeated short-term separations give young animals a chance to respond to temporary aversive events, which is adaptive over the long term (65). These benefits may also extend to cognitive performance and response inhibition.…”

Stress inoculation‐induced indications of resilience in monkeys

“…Response inhibition assessed on this test is also impaired in a marmoset monkey model of parental neglect (Pryce, Dettling, Spengler, Spaete, & Feldon, 2004), and in squirrel monkeys treated with cortisol according to a protocol that simulates a chronic stress response (Lyons, Lopez, Yang, & Schatzberg, 2000). Here this test of cognitive control was used to assess stress inoculation-induced indications of resilience.…”

Can We Measure Brain Efficiency? An Empirical Test with Common Marmosets <b><i>(Callithrix jacchus)</i></b>

“…A morning meal of mealworms, gum and porridge was followed shortly before noon by a main meal of chopped fruit/vegetables and, on non-test days, by a small treat consisting of egg or a nut at 1 p.m. Water and monkey chow were provided ad libitum. [Ridley et al 1981[Ridley et al , 1984Domeney et al, 1991;Dias et al, 1997;Pryce et al, 2004]; Cebus [Crawford, 1962;Goulart et al, 2005]; Cercopithecus [Rumbaugh and Arnold, 1971;Jentsch et al, 2002;Lee et al, 2007]; Gorilla [Patterson and Tzeng, 1979]; Hylobates [Rumbaugh, 1971]; Lemur [Rumbaugh and Arnold, 1971]; Macaca [Mahut, 1971[Mahut, , 1972Pieper and Skeen, 1975;Essock-Vitale, 1978;Gaffan and Harrison, 1984;Gaffan et al, 1986;Anderson et al, 1996;Arnsten et al, 1997;Sanchez et al, 1998;Voytko, 1999;Wilson and Gaffan, 2008]; Microcebus [Joly et al, 2006]; Miopithecus [Rumbaugh, 1971]; Pan [Schusterman, 1962]; Pongo [Essockvitale, 1978]; Saimiri [Rumbaugh and McQueeney, 1963].…”

“…Global cognition 'g' values from: Johnson et al [2002], Anderson et al [1996], Arnsten et al [1997], Crawford [1962], Dias et al [1997], Domeney et al [1991], Essock-Vitale [1978], Gaffan et al [1984Gaffan et al [ , 1986, Goulart et al [2005], Jentsch et al [2002], Joly et al [2006], Lee et al [2007], Mahut [1971,1972], Patterson and Tzeng [1979], Pieper et al [1975], Pryce et al [2004], Ridley et al [1981], Ridley et al [1984], Rumbaugh et al [1963Rumbaugh et al [ , 1971, Rumbaugh [1971], Sanchez et al [1998], Schusterman [1962], Voytko [1999], Wilson and Gaffan [2008].…”