Motility Profile of Captive-Bred Marmosets Revealed by a Long-Term In-Cage Monitoring System

Abstract

A quantitative evaluation of motility is crucial for studies employing experimental animals. Here, we describe the development of an in-cage motility monitoring method for new world monkeys using off-the-shelf components, and demonstrate its capability for long-term operation (e.g., a year). Based on this novel system, we characterized the motility of the common marmoset over different time scales (seconds, hours, days, and weeks). Monitoring of seven young animals belonging to two different age groups (sub-adult and young-adult) over a 231-day period revealed: (1) strictly diurnal activity (97.3% of movement during daytime), (2) short-cycle (∼20 s) transition in activity, and (3) bimodal diurnal activity including a “siesta” break. Additionally, while the mean duration of short-cycle activity, net daily activity, and diurnal activity changed over the course of development, 24-h periodicity remained constant. Finally, the method allowed for detection of progressive motility deterioration in a transgenic marmoset. Motility measurement offers a convenient way to characterize developmental and pathological changes in animals, as well as an economical and labor-free means for long-term evaluation in a wide range of basic and translational studies.

Review of Environmental and Health Factors Impacting Captive Common Marmoset Welfare in the Biomedical Research Setting

“…A method of using a custom squeeze-walled transfer box to move the marmoset into the chair without the need for hand capture has recently been described [ 61 ]. Videorecording and novel methods of analysis have also been applied to home-cage monitoring of animal activity to potentially eliminate the need for handling animals for some neuroscience studies [ 62 , 63 ]. Ultimately, the author strongly encourages refinements to research-related procedures for neuroscience that minimize the use of hand capture and rely on acclimation and positive reinforcement training to encourage animal engagement and to minimize adverse welfare impacts.…”