Sex differences in age-related motor slowing in the rhesus monkey: behavioral and neuroimaging data

Lacreuse, Agnès; Diehl, María M.; Goh, Mark Y.; Hall, Marisa J.; Volk, Alyssa M.; Chhabra, Rashmeet K.; Herndon, James G.

doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2004.05.007

Cited by 47 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…Motor speed was associated with slower acquisition of the DNMS after age effects had been controlled for Discussion Global cognitive function, as assessed by a summary measure of cognitive functioning, the CPI, declined significantly with age in both sexes, similar to previous results in a larger group of monkeys (Herndon et al, 1997). Age-related slowing of fine motor performance was found only in males, consistent with a previous report on sex differences in age-related motor decline (Lacreuse et al 2005).…”

Section: Effects Of Age and Sex On Cognitive Function And Motor Speedsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…We analyzed cognitive performance and fine motor skills of 30 rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), including 20 monkeys tested for motor function as part of a previous study (Lacreuse et al 2005). All monkeys were tested by the same procedure.…”

Section: Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Lifesaver test, based on the task described by Zhang et al (2000), is explained in detail in Lacreuse et al (2005) and only briefly summarized here. Monkeys had to remove a Lifesaver candy from three metal rods bent into shapes of different complexity (straight, double-S shape and question mark shape), using the left and right hands in alternation.…”

Section: Fine Motor Task (Lifesaver Task)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Motor learning, on the other hand, initially involves prefrontal regions of the cortex (Jenkins et al 1994;Karni et al 1995), shifting to primary motor cortex, parietal cortex, basal ganglia and cerebellum areas when motor skills become more established (Daselaar et al 2003;Shadmehr and Holcomb 1997;Toni et al 1998). Age-related slowing of fine motor function has been attributed to alterations of the nigrostriatal system, including loss of dopaminergic neurons (Emborg et al 1998;Irwin et al 1994), reduction of tyrosine hydroxylase and dopaminergic transporter (Gerhardt et al 2002;van Dyck et al 2002), striatal atrophy (Lacreuse et al 2005;Matochik et al 2000), and iron accumulation in the striatum (Cass et al 2006).…”

Section: Effects Of Age and Sex On Cognitive Function And Motor Speedmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Relationships among cognitive function, fine motor speed and age in the rhesus monkey

Lacreuse

Espinosa

Herndon

2006

AGE

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Declines in fine motor skills and cognitive function are well known features of human aging. Yet, the relationship between age-related impairments in motor and cognitive function remains unclear. Rhesus monkeys, like humans, show marked decline in cognitive and fine motor function with age and are excellent models to investigate potential interactions between age-related declines in cognitive and motor functioning. We investigated the relationships among cognition, motor function and age in 30 male and female rhesus monkeys, 5-28 years of age, tested on a battery of cognitive tasks [acquisition of the delayed non-matching-to-sample (DNMS), DNMS-120s, DNMS-600s, acquisition of delayed recognition span test (DRST), spatial-DRST and object-DRST] and a fine motor task (Lifesaver test). Global cognitive ability, as assessed by the cognitive performance index (CPI), was impaired with age in both sexes, while age-related motor slowing was found only in males. After age was controlled for, half the variance in CPI was predicted by motor speed, with better cognitive ability associated with slower motor skills. Analyses at the level of each cognitive task revealed that motor speed and age predicted the rate of acquisition of the DNMS. This relationship was robust in males and absent in females. Motor speed was not a significant predictor of any other cognitive variable. We conclude that the relationship between cognition and motor function (1) may be limited to non-spatial tasks; (2) exists independently of age; (3) may reflect different contributions of the fronto-striatal system; (4) may be particularly evident in males.

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Section: Effects Of Age and Sex On Cognitive Function And Motor Speedsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fine Motor Task (Lifesaver Task)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Effects Of Age and Sex On Cognitive Function And Motor Speedmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Relationships among cognitive function, fine motor speed and age in the rhesus monkey

Lacreuse

Espinosa

Herndon

2006

AGE

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“…Because the nigrostriatal system plays an important role in the production of movement, it is suspected that deterioration of this system in old age is at the root of fine motor function decline in the aged population. Since estrogen is known to be involved in protection of neuronal degradation [Lacreuse and Herndon, 2003;Lacreuse et al, 2005], it is thought that motor function in females should be better preserved during aging than that of males [Lacreuse et al, 2005].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age‐related motor dysfunction: Manual slowing in Gorilla gorilla gorilla

Mahovetz

Stoinski

2015

American J Primatol

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Aging in humans and rhesus monkeys is commonly associated with motor function decrements including dexterity, speed, and strength. Despite their longevity and phylogenetic relatedness to humans, the effects of aging on motor function in non-human apes have been minimally studied. We conducted two experiments with western lowland gorillas (11-54 years of age) to determine whether aged gorillas exhibit motor deficits similar to those seen in other species. In experiment one, gorillas extracted up to 12 food rewards lodged in holes of a Lexan board. Extraction rates were calculated for eight test sessions. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed no main effects of session or sex on extraction rate, but a significant main effect of age. Comparisons between the first and last sessions showed that experience significantly improved extraction rates in young but not aged gorillas. In experiment two, gorillas retrieved a hex nut from three differently shaped rods with each hand for a reward. Latencies of retrieval were calculated for 16 test sessions. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant main effects of age class, sex, and session. There were significant interactions between session and sex, session and age, and session, sex, and age. These findings held when analyzing each rod shape separately. Post hoc comparisons revealed that young gorillas were significantly faster at the task than aged gorillas, and females were faster than males. This finding held only for the question mark shaped rod when analyzing each rod shape separately. Comparisons between the first and last sessions showed that experience did not significantly improve latencies in either age or sex class. The direction of these results are congruent with previous findings in humans and monkeys and suggest that aged gorillas experience deficits in bimanual coordination compared to younger gorillas and that age and sex influence fine motor ability in gorillas.

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One‐year change in cognitive flexibility and fine motor function in middle‐aged male and female marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

Workman

Healey

Carlotto

et al. 2018

American J Primatol

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The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is uniquely suited for longitudinal studies of cognitive aging, due to a relatively short lifespan, sophisticated cognitive abilities, and patterns of brain aging that resemble those of humans. We examined cognitive function and fine motor skills in male and female marmosets (mean age ~5 at study entry) followed longitudinally for 2 years. Each year, monkeys were tested on a reversal learning task with three pairs of stimuli (n = 18, 9 females) and a fine motor task requiring them to grasp small rewards from two staircases (Hill and Valley test, n = 12, 6 females). There was little evidence for a decline in cognitive flexibility between the two time points, in part because of practice effects. However, independent of year of testing, females took longer than males to reach criterion in the reversals, indicating impaired cognitive flexibility. Motivation was unlikely to contribute to this effect, as males refused a greater percentage of trials than females in the reversals. With regards to motor function, females were significantly faster than males in the Hill and Valley task. From Year 1 to Year 2, a slight slowing of motor function was observed in both sexes, but accuracy decreased significantly in males only. This study (1) demonstrates that marmosets exhibit sex differences in cognitive flexibility and fine motor function that resemble those described in humans; (2) that changes in fine motor function can already be detected at middle-age; and (3) that males may experience greater age-related changes in fine motor skills than females. Additional data points will determine whether these sex and age differences persist over time.

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Sex differences in age-related motor slowing in the rhesus monkey: behavioral and neuroimaging data

Cited by 47 publications

References 80 publications

Relationships among cognitive function, fine motor speed and age in the rhesus monkey

Relationships among cognitive function, fine motor speed and age in the rhesus monkey

Age‐related motor dysfunction: Manual slowing in Gorilla gorilla gorilla

One‐year change in cognitive flexibility and fine motor function in middle‐aged male and female marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

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