Formal response to “Sophisticated modelling with inaccurate data: a comment on Steiner & Huettmann (2025)” by Eckhard W. Heymann from the German Primate Center in Göttingen, Germany

Julia Fischer

Abstract. It took almost 20 years from the first proposal for the foundation of a German primate centre to the final establishment of an institute for research on primates. Since 1964, the German science community had considered the idea of founding a national primate centre in the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) following existing models in the USA. In 1967, the project received a significant boost from the outbreak of the lethal Marburg virus infections, which was transmitted from African green monkeys to humans. However, a memorandum from Hans-Jürg Kuhn, at that time at the University of Frankfurt, facilitated a breakthrough in 1970. He conceived an interdisciplinary institute that would both conduct its own scientific research and be a service institute for other German institutions. After highly charged debates on a suitable location, the federal government decided on Göttingen, and in 1972 the University of Göttingen provided the necessary ground. With the certificate of incorporation in 1977, the federal government and the German state Lower Saxony appointed Professor Kuhn as the first scientific director. Based on his memorandum, a research and service institute was developed with several scientific departments associated with primate husbandry, and full operation began in 1984.

Event Abstract Back to Event Generalization patterns during reach adaptation to target jump Stephanie Westendorff1*, Bahareh Taghizadeh1 and Alexander Gail1 1 German Primate Center, Sensorimotor Group, BCCN Göttingen, Germany In typical visuomotor rotation tasks, adaptation is induced by a mismatch between visual and proprioceptive sensory input. Target-jump paradigms, i.e. tasks with sudden displacement of the movement target during movement initiation or execution, do not induce cross-modal mismatch, nor do they induce adaptation when subject are aware of the displacement. Here we present and characterize a novel target jump paradigm, in which reach movements reliably get adapted to target displacements. Subjects had to make center-out reaches to a peripheral target. Simultaneously they had to make a saccade to a neutral target. Saccadic suppression during the eye movement allowed us to displace the reach target during hand movement initiation or execution, without subjects noticing the perturbation. The reach target was displaced either to a different eccentricity (radial displacement) or to a different angular (directional displacement).Subjects incrementally adapted to the radial and to the directional displacement, with average learning rates similar to prism adaptation, and showed reliable negative aftereffects.We also tested the generalization of the adaptation effect to neighboring reach targets. Subjects were first adapted to either a radial or directional target displacement, and then probed at different positions along the radius and circumference of the adapted target. Preliminary analysis of our results suggests that movement endpoints to novel targets are off-set by a vector that is approximately equal to the displacement vector imposed on the adapted target. The offset decreases with increasing angular or radial distance from the adapted target.Our results show that reach adaptation in a target-jump experiment is possible when the displacement is obscured by a simultaneous saccade to a different target. The observed generalization patterns may be difficult to explain as a combination of independent adjustments on the direction and extent of movement. Consequently, our results may cast doubt on an earlier claim that direction and extent of movements are planned independently (Krakauer, Pine, Ghilardi, and Ghez, J Neurosci, 2000). Figure 1: Reach endpoint adaptation to 15º directional target jump. Reach errors are shown as angular deviation over trials for 6 subjects. Figure 1 Keywords: computational neuroscience Conference: Bernstein Conference on Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany, 27 Sep - 1 Oct, 2010. Presentation Type: Presentation Topic: Bernstein Conference on Computational Neuroscience Citation: Westendorff S, Taghizadeh B and Gail A (2010). Generalization patterns during reach adaptation to target jump. Front. Comput. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: Bernstein Conference on Computational Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/conf.fncom.2010.51.00018 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 22 Sep 2010; Published Online: 23 Sep 2010. * Correspondence: Dr. Stephanie Westendorff, German Primate Center, Sensorimotor Group, BCCN Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, swesten@gwdg.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Stephanie Westendorff Bahareh Taghizadeh Alexander Gail Google Stephanie Westendorff Bahareh Taghizadeh Alexander Gail Google Scholar Stephanie Westendorff Bahareh Taghizadeh Alexander Gail PubMed Stephanie Westendorff Bahareh Taghizadeh Alexander Gail Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Abstract. The Department of Pathology was the first scientific unit established at the German Primate Center (DPZ) already in its planning phase. At that early time the planning of administrative duties was also necessary, including the financial framework of the laboratory equipment of the then-envisioned three departments of pathology, virology and physiology, in order to get the DPZ off the ground. Otherwise the functions of the Department of Pathology were both service duties and scientific evaluations. The service functions after the establishment of the DPZ included pathological, bacteriological and parasitological examinations/surveys and the veterinary care of nonhuman primates at the DPZ and other primate colonies. On an international level its service functions were reflected by the collaboration within the Office International de Epizooties (OIE, Paris) (Dollinger et al., 1996) and the Infectious Diseases Working Group of the European Association of Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians, and the establishment of a bacteriological laboratory in Iquitos, Peru, at the request of the Pan American Health Organization. Parallel to those administrative and service duties to the DPZ and to international communities, the different scientific activities started, which in a pathology department always are a combination of service and research. They are documented by a total of almost 120 publications, including 3 doctoral theses and 116 publications by the author from 1973 to 1999; the most important ones are summarized in the following examples.

Event Abstract Back to Event Attentional modulation of the tuning of neurons in area MT to the direction of transparent motion Anja Lochte1*, Valeska Stephan1, Vladislav Kozyrev1, 2, Annette Witt2, 3 and Stefan Treue1 1 German Primate Center, Germany 2 Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Germany 3 Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization , Germany Transparent motion perception requires the segmentation and separate representation of multiple motion directions within the same part of visual space. In a previous study we recorded responses from direction-selective neurons in macaque middle temporal area (MT) to unattended bidirectional random dot patterns (RDPs; Treue et al., 2000). The profile of responses to such transparent motion patterns is the scaled sum of responses to the individual components, showing two peaks when the angle between the component directions exceeds the neuron’s tuning width.Here we investigated the influence of attention on the representation of the direction components of transparent motion by recording from MT in an attentional paradigm. Our question was, whether the effects of attention can be better characterized as a modulation of the population response in MT or as a modulation of two independent neuronal populations, each encoding one of the two directions (as might be expected to happen in area V1). Two monkeys were trained on a task, where an initial cue indicated the relevant direction of motion in a given trial. Two RDPs were then presented, moving within a common stationary aperture, sized and positioned to fit within the classical receptive field. While maintaining gaze on a fixation point, the animals were instructed to respond to a speed increment within the cued surface. In a sensory condition, the monkeys were asked to respond to a luminance change of the fixation point. By systematically varying the overall pattern direction, tuning curves were measured with a constant relative angle of 120 degrees between the component directions. The activity profile across 90 MT units showed two peaks corresponding to the two stimulus configurations in which one of the directions moved in the neuron’s preferred direction. The profile can be well fit by the sum of two Gaussians, enabling a quantitative comparison of neuronal responses for the attended versus the sensory condition. The fitted tuning curves showed an average increase of 52% around the peak where the preferred direction was attended relative to the sensory condition. For the peak corresponding to the condition when the preferred direction was unattended, we observed an average suppression of 5%. Neither of the fitted individual Gaussians showed a change in tuning width. Our results, supported by preliminary numerical modeling, show that attending to one surface in a transparent motion stimulus causes a direction-dependent modulation of the population response in MT, representing the neural correlate of attentional allocation to an individual surface.Acknowledgments: The project was supported by the Volkswagen Foundation (grant I/79868) and by grant 01GQ0433 from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research to the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Goettingen. Conference: Bernstein Conference on Computational Neuroscience, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 30 Sep - 2 Oct, 2009. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Sensory processing Citation: Lochte A, Stephan V, Kozyrev V, Witt A and Treue S (2009). Attentional modulation of the tuning of neurons in area MT to the direction of transparent motion. Front. Comput. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: Bernstein Conference on Computational Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.10.2009.14.154 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 28 Aug 2009; Published Online: 28 Aug 2009. * Correspondence: Anja Lochte, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany, alochte@gwdg.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Anja Lochte Valeska Stephan Vladislav Kozyrev Annette Witt Stefan Treue Google Anja Lochte Valeska Stephan Vladislav Kozyrev Annette Witt Stefan Treue Google Scholar Anja Lochte Valeska Stephan Vladislav Kozyrev Annette Witt Stefan Treue PubMed Anja Lochte Valeska Stephan Vladislav Kozyrev Annette Witt Stefan Treue Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Event Abstract Back to Event Attention reshapes center-surround receptive-field structure in Macaque cortical area MT Katharina Anton-Erxleben1*, Valeska Stephan1 and Stefan Treue1 1 German Primate Center, Germany Directing spatial attention to a location inside the classical receptive field (cRF) of a neuron in macaque medial temporal area (MT) has been shown to shift the center of the cRF towards the attended location. Here we investigate the influence of spatial attention on the profile of the inhibitory surround present in many MT neurons. Two monkeys were trained to attend to the fixation point or to one of two random dot patterns (RDPs) placed at equal eccentricity inside or next to the cRF, while a third RDP (the probe) was briefly presented in quick succession at regularly spaced positions spanning the receptive field center and surround. Mean responses to probe presentation at the different positions were used to compute a map of the excitatory receptive field and its inhibitory surround. We find that attention systematically reshapes the receptive field profile, significantly and independently shifting both center and inhibitory surround towards the attended location. Furthermore, size of the cRF is changed as a function of relative distance of the attentional focus: attention inside the cRF shrinks it, while directing attention next to the cRF expands it. In addition, we find systematic changes in surround inhibition and cRF amplitude. This non-multiplicative push-pull modulation of the receptive field's center-surround structure by attention optimizes processing at and near the attentional focus to strengthen the representation of the attended stimulus while reducing influences from distractors. Conference: Bernstein Symposium 2008, Munich, Germany, 8 Oct - 10 Oct, 2008. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: All Abstracts Citation: Anton-Erxleben K, Stephan V and Treue S (2008). Attention reshapes center-surround receptive-field structure in Macaque cortical area MT. Front. Comput. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: Bernstein Symposium 2008. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.10.2008.01.024 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 13 Nov 2008; Published Online: 13 Nov 2008. * Correspondence: Katharina Anton-Erxleben, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany, k.antonerxleben@web.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Katharina Anton-Erxleben Valeska Stephan Stefan Treue Google Katharina Anton-Erxleben Valeska Stephan Stefan Treue Google Scholar Katharina Anton-Erxleben Valeska Stephan Stefan Treue PubMed Katharina Anton-Erxleben Valeska Stephan Stefan Treue Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

This special issue about selected diseases of nonhuman primates was created in honor of Franz-Josef Kaup, who worked as a primate pathologist at the German Primate Center (DPZ) for 25 years. In 1992, Franz-Josef Kaup started his career at the DPZ as head of the working group Experimental Pathology. Prior to that he worked as a research assistant in the division Electron Microscopy at the Institute of Pathology of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hanover. He was very experienced in the field of electron microscopy and used this expertise to establish a central electron microscopy laboratory at the DPZ. In the beginning, research of the working group Experimental Pathology was focused on gastrointestinal and respiratory infections and was closely related to projects of the Department of Virology. At that time, experimental infections of rhesus macaques with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) and associated opportunistic infections became the main subject of his research. The contribution of Christiane Stahl-Hennig and coauthors about SIV-induced cardiovascular diseases reflects the still ongoing collaboration in this research field. After merging the Experimental Pathology and Primate Husbandry in 1996, Franz-Josef Kaup headed the newly created Department of Veterinary Medicine and Primate Husbandry. This department became the central service unit of the DPZ in 1999 and offered a broad spectrum of services in veterinary diagnostics, primate husbandry, and animal welfare, which was intensively used by many internal and external scientists. In 2001, Walter Bodemer joined the group and the scientific contents expanded with a new focus on the pathogenesis of prion diseases. Some important aspects of this era are summarized in the work of Walter Bodemer.

Abstract. For many years, Tupaia (family Tupaiidae), most commonly known as tree shrews, have been studied almost exclusively by zoologists resulting in a controversial debate on their taxonomic status among mammals. Today, tree shrews are placed in the order Scandentia; they are valuable, widely accepted and increasingly used model animals as an alternative to rodents and non-human primates in biomedical research. After a brief description on how tree shrews entered science and their taxonomic odyssey, the present article describes the history of the tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri) colony at the German Primate Center and selected aspects of our work with special emphasis on the psychosocial stress model in these animals.

Event Abstract Back to Event Asymmetric generalization of target jump adaptation suggests tuning changes at the level of motor goals -- a neuronal network simulation Stephanie Westendorff1, 2, Shenbing Kuang1, Opher Donchin3 and Alexander Gail1, 2* 1 German Primate Center, Germany 2 Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Germany 3 Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel We previously presented a behavioral target jump paradigm (Westendorff et al., 2010), in which reach movements reliably adapted to target error alone, without prediction error caused by perturbed feedback about the hand position. The target jump task induced adaptation with an asymmetric generalization, i.e. reach corrections for the adapted target were transferred more strongly towards unperturbed probe targets which lay in the direction of the target jump, compared to probe targets in the opposite direction. We here present a three-layer recurrent neuronal network with which we can simulate the reach adaptation behavior of the target jump paradigm. The presented model was previously used for simulating context-specific sensorimotor transformations (Brozovic, 2007) and needed only minor modifications for simulating the target jump task. After learning a 1-to-1 standard mapping from spatially local sensory input to a congruent motor output across the whole workspace, the model was re-trained at a single spatial position to perform a 15º rotation of the motor output relative to the local sensory input. In this adapted state the generalization of adaptation effects to unperturbed probe target locations was measured equivalently to human psychophysics. We analyzed the changes in the neuronal tuning properties at the different levels of the model in response to the induced target jump adaptation. The model reproduces the asymmetry in generalization observed in the experimental data. The strength of the asymmetry is dependent on the tuning width of neurons in the output layer, but can be robustly found over a wide range of parameters. The asymmetry of generalization is contingent upon changes of tuning properties in the hidden layer. If tuning changes in the hidden layer were prevented, than the model still adapted to the local target jump but showed symmetric generalization, which does not match the psychophysical results. This implies that adaptation in the learning model is achieved by changes in the mapping from the input to the hidden layer, rather than changes in the mapping from the hidden to the output layer. Our results suggest that adaptation in our target jump task likely affects motor goal representations at early visuospatial stages of reach planning, rather than changes at the motor execution level. The simulations predict specific changes of tuning properties in areas like the posterior parietal cortex during target jump adaptation. References Brozovic et al. 2007 JNeurosci:27:10588. Westendorff et al 2011 Soc Neurosci Abstr 292.8 Keywords: adaptation, generalization, motor goal, Neurons, networks and dynamical systems, reach, target jump Conference: BC11 : Computational Neuroscience & Neurotechnology Bernstein Conference & Neurex Annual Meeting 2011, Freiburg, Germany, 4 Oct - 6 Oct, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: neurons, networks and dynamical systems (please use "neurons, networks and dynamical systems" as keywords) Citation: Westendorff S, Kuang S, Donchin O and Gail A (2011). Asymmetric generalization of target jump adaptation suggests tuning changes at the level of motor goals -- a neuronal network simulation. Front. Comput. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: BC11 : Computational Neuroscience & Neurotechnology Bernstein Conference & Neurex Annual Meeting 2011. doi: 10.3389/conf.fncom.2011.53.00050 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 23 Aug 2011; Published Online: 04 Oct 2011. * Correspondence: Dr. Alexander Gail, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany, agail@gwdg.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Stephanie Westendorff Shenbing Kuang Opher Donchin Alexander Gail Google Stephanie Westendorff Shenbing Kuang Opher Donchin Alexander Gail Google Scholar Stephanie Westendorff Shenbing Kuang Opher Donchin Alexander Gail PubMed Stephanie Westendorff Shenbing Kuang Opher Donchin Alexander Gail Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Twenty-six gastrointestinal tumors were observed in twenty-three nonhuman primates during routine necropsies at the German Primate Center, Göttingen. The majority (15 cases) were colorectal mucoid adenocarcinomas in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus), which in two animals were associated with gastric adenomas. Three cases of small intestinal mucoid adenocarcinomas occurred in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). One colonic leiomyoma was observed in a dwarf galago (Galagoides demidovii) and another one in a cotton top tamarin. Singular findings were a tubular adeno-carcinoma of the ileo-caecal valve in a saddle-backed tamarin (Saguinus fuscicollis) and a lymphosarcoma of jejunum, ileum, and colon in another saddle-backed tamarin. Multiple tubular adeno-carcinomas of the colonic diverticles occurred in an aged rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta). The findings are discussed in comparison to the situation in man.

Non-human primates in outdoor enclosures: Risk for infection with rodent-borne hantaviruses

Event Abstract Back to Event Multiplicative changes in area MST neuron's responses of primate visual cortex by spatial attention Sonia Baloni1, 2*, Daniel Kaping2 and Stefan Treue2 1 Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Germany 2 German Primate Center, Germany Spatial attention has been shown to create multiplicative enhancements of orientation tuning curves in area V4 and of direction tuning curves of area MT of primate visual cortex. We similarly, aimed to study attentional effects on tuning profiles of MST neurons, which are tuned for spiral motion space (SMS) directions. The SMS, introduced by Graziano et al. (1994), is a circular dimension that considers expansion, clockwise rotation, contraction and counterclockwise rotation as cardinal directions in this space, with a continuum of stimuli in between.We recorded SMS tuning curves from 123 MST neurons of two macaque monkeys. The monkeys were trained to attend to a target stimulus, a SMS random dot pattern (RDP) in the presence of another RDP (distractor). One of the RDP was placed in the receptive field (RF) while the other was placed outside, in the opposite hemifield. In a given trial the two RDPs moved in the same direction, picked randomly from one of twelve SMS directions and either the stimulus inside (attention-in condition) or outside (attention-out condition) the RF was the designated target. The monkeys had to report a speed change of the target stimulus while ignoring all other changes. The tuning profile of individual MST neurons can be well fitted by a Gauss function, allowing a quantitative comparison of neuronal responses to the stimulus inside the RF, when it is behaviorally relevant (attended target stimulus) or irrelevant (unattended distractor).We found that directing spatial attention into the RF enhances the response of MST neurons to optimized SMS multiplicatively (average +30%). The robust responses of MST neurons to SMS stimuli away from the preferred direction can be used to test between two alternative attentional modulation models. In the activity gain model, attention multiplicatively modulates the overall responses of neurons. Because the given activity level evoked by a particular stimulus is modulated independent of the neuron’s baseline firing rate, the given activity is multiplied by a fixed factor. An alternative to the activity gain model is the response gain model in which attention only modulates the additional activity evoked by a given stimulus leaving a neuron’s “baseline” response unmodulated.We modified the Gaussian tuning function by holding all parameters to the values obtained for the attention-out condition while introducing a single attentional multiplication factor, either multiplying the entire function (activity gain) or all parameters but the baseline (response gain). The fits are all well correlated with the data and because the two functions have a similar form they are highly correlated. A partial correlation between the fitted activity and response gain data revealed that many more cells were better fit by the activity gain model.In summary, responses in MST are multiplicatively enhanced when spatial attention is directed into the RF. This effect is best accounted for by activity gain models where the overall response of the neuron is modulated by a constant factor. Conference: Bernstein Conference on Computational Neuroscience, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 30 Sep - 2 Oct, 2009. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Information processing in neurons and networks Citation: Baloni S, Kaping D and Treue S (2009). Multiplicative changes in area MST neuron's responses of primate visual cortex by spatial attention. Front. Comput. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: Bernstein Conference on Computational Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.10.2009.14.045 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 26 Aug 2009; Published Online: 26 Aug 2009. * Correspondence: Sonia Baloni, Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Göttingen, Germany, sbaloni@gwdg.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Sonia Baloni Daniel Kaping Stefan Treue Google Sonia Baloni Daniel Kaping Stefan Treue Google Scholar Sonia Baloni Daniel Kaping Stefan Treue PubMed Sonia Baloni Daniel Kaping Stefan Treue Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

A novel, minimally invasive, transabdominal embryo collection method (transabdominal method) was developed as an alternative to a standard abdominal incision for embryo collection in the common marmoset. The abdominal incision method was used for 304 flushes using 36 female animals, whereas the transabdominal method was used for 488 flushes using 48 females; successful embryo collection rates were 48.0% and 48.4% (P > 0.05), respectively. These techniques were successfully duplicated at another institute (German Primate Center, DPZ). At that institution, successful embryo collection rates were 88.9% and 77.8% for the abdominal incision and transabdominal methods, respectively (P > 0.05), whereas the average numbers of preimplantation embryos obtained per flush were (mean ± SD) 1.91 ± 0.35 and 1.71 ± 0.14 (P > 0.05). The transabdominal method reduced animal stress, did not require incisional wound healing, and enabled successive embryo recoveries to be done much sooner. More embryos in early developmental stages (zygotes/morulae) were recovered using the transabdominal method (76.1%) than the abdominal incision method (52.6%, P < 0.01). In contrast, recovery of arrested or abnormal embryos was not significantly different between these two methods (9.8% and 8.3%). To verify developmental ability of embryos recovered by the transabdominal method, transfer of 28 normal embryos to 14 surrogate mothers yielded a nidation rate of 57%. Five females sustained term pregnancies and eight neonates were born. This novel transabdominal method will facilitate progress in marmoset developmental biology and embryology.

Health, disease, and immune function are key areas of research in studies of ecology and evolution, but work on free-ranging primates has been inhibited by a lack of direct noninvasive measures of condition. Here, we evaluate the potential usefulness of noninvasive measurement of three biomarkers, the acute-phase proteins C-reactive protein (CRP) and haptoglobin, and neopterin, a by-product of macrophage activity. We took advantage of veterinary checks on captive rhesus (24) and long-tailed (3) macaques at the German Primate Center (DPZ) to analyze serum marker measures, before measuring concentrations in feces and urine, and evaluating relationships between matched serum, urine, and fecal concentrations. In a second study, we monitored excretion of these markers in response to simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection and surgical tissue trauma, undertaken for a separate study. We found that each biomarker could be measured in each matrix. Serum and urinary concentrations of neopterin were strongly and significantly correlated, but neither haptoglobin nor CRP concentrations in excreta proxied circulating serum concentrations. Our infection study confirmed that urinary neopterin, in particular, is a reliable marker of viral infection in macaques, but also indicated the potential of urinary and fecal CRP and haptoglobin as indicators of inflammation. We highlight the potential of noninvasive markers of immune function, especially of urinary neopterin, which correlates strongly with serum neopterin, and is highly responsive to infection.

Erratum to ‘‘The impact of ecological variability on the reproductive endocrinology of wild female African elephants’’ [Horm. Behav. 51 (2007) 346–354