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Probiotics as a Treatment for Increased Nighttime Activity in Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta) Displaying Self-Injurious Behavior
Self-injurious behavior (SIB) is a behavioral pathology seen in a small percentage of humans and non-human primates. In one previous study, macaques with SIB had more sleep disruption than controls, but observations were limited. Two studies were conducted: a baseline study to investigate nighttime activity in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) displaying SIB and controls, and a probiotic study to assess probiotic Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 for high nighttime activity. Subjects were 13 rhesus macaques, 5 with SIB (3 females; 1 SIB). Videocapture of Nighttime Activity (VNRA) was developed to record in complete darkness. IR-receptive webcams were connected to a laptop running ISPYCONNECT, software which recorded movement. Subjects were observed during the entire lights-off period (8pm-7am). Measures included total movement time (TMT), movement in hour 1 (HR1) and hour 11 (HR11), and number of videos. In the baseline, SIB subjects had higher TMT (pBifidobacterium infantis 35624 had no effect on sleep disruption, and also that increased nighttime activity seems to be a persistent characteristic of SIB subjects. It is unknown if increased nighttime activity affects SIB subjects; it may result in elevated SIB, or the SIB pathology could result in sleep disruption
Chronic multi-modal monitoring of neural activity in rodents and primates
We developed multi-modal systems comprising implantable carbon fiber (CF)-based electrodes to record synchronously chemical (e.g. dopamine) and electrical (e.g. local field potential, LFP) forms of activity in the brain. These systems were equipped with implantable micro-invasive probes and moveable silica-based CF probes capable of recording chronically from fixed locations, or from multiple depths along predetermined trajectories, respectively, spanning 48 spatially distinct sites in the caudate nucleus and the putamen. Electrochemical fast scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) was implemented in combination with standard electrophysiology to provide subsecond chemical and electrical recordings. The chronic stability of our micro-invasive probes, as tested previously in rodents and translated for use in nonhuman primate (NHP), was necessary to ensure functional recording from fixed locations in the brain without degradation in probe sensitivity over time. These systems were used to examine the relationship between dopamine and beta-band LFPs, prominent biomarkers of untreated Parkinson’s disease. We recorded dopamine and beta in rhesus monkeys performing oculomotor tasks in which reward valuation and movement control, key functions impaired in Parkinson’s disease, could be quantified. Highly stable measurements of dopamine and LFP neural signals were made over a period of months