Abstract
The use of animal models in brain aging research has led to numerous fundamental insights into the neurobiological processes that underlie changes in brain function associated with normative aging. Macaque monkeys have become the predominant nonhuman primate model system in brain aging research due to their striking similarities to humans in their behavioral capacities, sensory processing abilities, and brain architecture. Recent public concern about nonhuman primate research has made it imperative to attempt to clearly articulate the potential benefits to human health that this model enables. The present review will highlight how nonhuman primates provide a critical bridge between experiments conducted in rodents and development of therapeutics for humans. Several studies discussed here exemplify how nonhuman primate research has enriched our understanding of cognitive and sensory decline in the aging brain, as well as how this work has been important for translating mechanistic implications derived from experiments conducted in rodents to human brain aging research.
Highlights
COLLOQUIUM PAPERExperiments in macaque monkeys provide critical insights into age-associated changes in cognitive and sensory function
The use of animal models in brain aging research has led to numerous fundamental insights into the neurobiological processes that underlie changes in brain function associated with normative aging
Nonhuman animals do not spontaneously develop dementing neurodegenerative diseases, which eliminates a major confound often encountered in human brain aging research
Summary
Experiments in macaque monkeys provide critical insights into age-associated changes in cognitive and sensory function. The number of a specific type of interneuron expressing the neuropeptide somatostatin was positively associated with memory function in aged rats [25] These findings indicate that regional hyperexcitability at the singleneuron level could result from a decreased level of inhibitory neurotransmission in older hippocampal networks. Baseline firing rates were significantly higher in the CA3 region, but not in the perirhinal cortex, of the older monkeys compared with the adults, consistent with the regional specificity of the age-associated hyperactivity observed in aged humans (Fig. 2B) The brains from these animals were harvested and serially sectioned for immunohistochemical labeling of 2 chemically distinct classes of inhibitory cells: somatostatin-positive and parvalbumin-positive interneurons. Whether the reduction observed reflects cellular degeneration or a biochemical down-regulation of the neuropeptide somatostatin
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