Motor assessment of developing common marmosets

Abstract

Motor development has been extensively studied in human infants and children, with several established scales for the evaluation of motor functions. However, the study of the neuronal mechanisms underlying human motor development is hampered by the lack of good animal models. The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), a small New World monkey, has recently attracted much attention as a potential nonhuman primate model for understanding human physiology and diseases. However, little is known about its gross motor development. In the present study, we found that marmosets have a critical period for motor development in postnatal weeks 2 to 5, and acquire most of their motor skills by 8 weeks of age. We also developed methods to assess their motor functions, which will be useful for the evaluation of motor performance in marmoset models of human diseases. In addition, we found that marmosets exhibit a "head-to-tail" sequence of motor development similar to that found in humans, further supporting the notion that they provide a good animal model for studying the neuronal mechanisms underlying human motor development.

Cross‐species comparison of behavioral neurodevelopmental milestones in the common marmoset monkey and human child

“… KEY: wks.=weeks; mos.=months; mo.=month; NR = not reported; NP= not present; * indicates skill present in multiple tables REFERENCES: 1 de Castro Leão, Duarte Doria Neto, & de Sousa, 2009; 2 Yamamoto, 1993; 3 Case-Smith, 2015; 4 Wang, Fang, & Gong, 2014; 5 Gerber, Wilks, & Erdie-Lalena, 2010; 6 Braun, Schultz-Darken, Schneider, Moore, & Emborg, 2015; 7 Bayley, 2006 8 Folio & Fewell, 2000; 9 Child development tracker, n.d.; 10 American Academy of Pediatrics, 2009; 11 Wright, Cameron, Tsiaka, & Parkinson, 2011; 12 Korth & Rendell, 2015; 13 Missler et al, 1992; 14 Edwards, Buckland, & McCoy-Powlen, 2002 …”

“…In order to apply these findings from marmosets to humans, a cross-species comparison of typical development is essential. Prior research of typical marmoset development includes a combination of direct observation and retrospective recall of marmoset behavior (Braun, Schultz-Darken, Schneider, Moore, & Emborg, 2015; de Castro Leão, Duarte Dória Neto, & de Sousa, 2009; Kaplan & Rogers, 2006; Missler et al, 1992; Pistorio, Vintch, & Wang, 2006; Wang, Fang, & Gong, 2014; Yamamoto, 1993). Marmoset development has been based on distinct postnatal stages, though the definitions of these stages differ between research groups; thus, expression of marmoset age in weeks, as opposed to postnatal stage, can be used to avoid ambiguity.…”

Neurobehavioral development of common marmoset monkeys

“…The Early postnatal survival assessment (Tardif et al, 2002) covers the first week of life, while the Primate postnatal neurodevelopment assessment scale for marmosets (PPNAS-M) assesses motor, cognitive, sensorial, and emotional measures in the first month of life (Braun, Schultz-Darken, Schneider, Moore, & Emborg, 2015). The motor development scale evaluates motor skills from birth to maturation of adult-like abilities (Wang, Fang, & Gong, 2014), whereas the Socio-emotional development assessment (Koshiba et al, 2013) evaluates changes in peer sociality in marmosets 1-4 months of age. Below we describe each assessment scale individually followed by a discussion on the assessments as complementary tools.…”

“…Wang et al () developed a motor assessment scale based on human infant motor assessments (Alberta Infant Motor Scale) widely used by physicians, occupational and physical therapists (Piper, Pinnell, Darrah, Maguire, & Byrne, ) which were adapted to the natural characteristics of marmosets. The investigators evaluated 11 newborn marmosets from age 1–8 weeks.…”

“…Wang et al () scale used assessments similar to the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (Piper et al, ) to specifically characterize development of gross motor functions. The obtained results showing development of adult‐like motor ability by 8 weeks of age substantiate the published Missler et al, Yamamoto, and de Castro Leão et al timelines for marmosets indicating independent locomotion at approximately 2 months of age.…”