Welfare assessment of rhesus macaques: from field observation to computational models of brain network

恒河猴福利评估：从现场观察到脑网络计算模型

• 批准号: 2462019
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Newcastle University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2462019
• 关键词: Welfare; assessment; rhesus; macaques; field

Biologists working with live vertebrates are ethically and legally obliged to optimise the physical and emotional welfare of their subjects, refining husbandry and experimental procedures to minimise the potential for pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm. The welfare of non-human primates involved in neuroscience experiments is of particular concern. Non-human primates perhaps have the greatest potential to experience human-like suffering due to their taxonomic proximity to humans, and neuroscience experiments on non-human primates often last for many years, increasing concerns about potential cumulative effects of experimental and husbandry procedures. Methods currently used to assess non-human primate welfare are inadequate. The goal of this project is to develop new behavioural indicators of primate welfare which are sensitive to the valence of enduring affective states experienced by the animal and which are easy to assess in various settings (academic and industrial settings). We will focus on rhesus macaques, the most common primate species used in neuroscience experiments. Rhesus macaques live in a highly hierarchical society, with different ranks associated with different levels of chronic stress. The first objective of this project is to assess how an exhaustive list of behaviours varies with hierarchical ranks in a free-ranging population of rhesus macaques in Cayo Santiago (Puerto Rico) to identify potential candidates for behavioural welfare indicators (year 1). The student will then measure the frequency of the pre-screened behaviours in rhesus macaques involved in neuroscience experiments at Newcastle and confirm the valence of the affective state associated with these behaviours using the neuroimaging approach we have recently validated (year 2). To gain further insight into the nature of the affective state associated with macaque behaviours, the student will then compare the brain networks whose structure and activity covary with these behaviours with those involved in several affective disorders in humans (e.g. major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, bi-polar disorder) (year 3). Finally, the student will investigate which experimental and husbandry procedures might be responsible for the variation in the frequency of different behaviours (year 4). This studentship will take advantage of our on-going longitudinal database, unique in the world, that combines biannual structural (T1, T2 and DTI) and functional (resting-state) MRI scans of healthy macaque brains, video recordings of home-cage behaviour, blood and hair samples and detailed records of health and exposures to scientific and husbandry procedures. Pre-screening of candidate behavioural indictors of macaque welfare will be done using existing video-recordings of free-ranging macaques living on Cayo Santiago Island, combined with records of their identity, age, sex and hierarchical ranks. In order to put the video collection into perspective, the student will spend two weeks at Cayo Santiago observing social groups of macaques in their natural environment. As such, the studentship will offer a unique opportunity to study primate welfare from field observations to computational models of brain networks. This project fits the BBSRC strategic priorities 'Welfare of managed animals' and '3Rs in research using animals'. It will allow the PhD student to develop interdisciplinary skills combining animal behaviour and welfare, whole organism in vivo physiology and quantitative skills.

从事活体脊椎动物研究的生物学家在伦理和法律上都有义务优化实验对象的身体和情感福利，完善饲养和实验程序，以最大限度地减少疼痛、折磨、痛苦或持久伤害的可能性。参与神经科学实验的非人类灵长类动物的福利尤其值得关注。非人类灵长类动物可能最有可能经历类似人类的痛苦，因为它们在分类上与人类接近，而且对非人类灵长类动物的神经科学实验通常持续多年，这增加了人们对实验和饲养程序潜在累积效应的担忧。目前用于评估非人类灵长类动物福利的方法是不充分的。该项目的目标是开发新的灵长类动物福利行为指标，这些指标对动物所经历的持久情感状态的效价敏感，并且易于在各种环境（学术和工业环境）中进行评估。我们将重点关注恒河猴，这是神经科学实验中最常用的灵长类动物。恒河猴生活在一个高度等级的社会中，不同的等级与不同程度的慢性压力有关。该项目的第一个目标是评估圣地亚哥岛（波多黎各）自由放养的恒河猴群体的行为如何随等级而变化，以确定行为福利指标（第一年）的潜在候选对象。然后，学生将测量参与纽卡斯尔神经科学实验的恒河猴中预筛选行为的频率，并使用我们最近验证的神经成像方法确认与这些行为相关的情感状态的效价（第2年）。为了进一步深入了解与猕猴行为相关的情感状态的本质，学生将把与这些行为相关的大脑网络结构和活动与人类几种情感障碍（如重度抑郁症、创伤后应激障碍、双相情感障碍）相关的大脑网络进行比较（第三年级）。最后，学生将调查哪些实验和饲养程序可能导致不同行为频率的变化（第4年）。这个学生将利用我们正在进行的纵向数据库，这是世界上独一无二的，它结合了健康猕猴大脑的两年一次的结构（T1， T2和DTI）和功能（静息状态）MRI扫描，家庭笼子行为的视频记录，血液和毛发样本以及健康和暴露于科学和饲养程序的详细记录。对猕猴福利的候选行为指标进行预先筛选，将使用生活在圣地亚哥岛的自由放养猕猴的现有录像，结合它们的身份、年龄、性别和等级记录。为了更好地了解这些视频，这位学生将花两周的时间在圣地亚哥岛观察猕猴在自然环境中的社会群体。因此，该奖学金将提供一个独特的机会来研究灵长类动物的福利，从实地观察到大脑网络的计算模型。该项目符合BBSRC的战略重点“管理动物的福利”和“动物研究中的3r”。这将使博士生能够发展跨学科的技能，结合动物行为和福利，整个生物体内生理学和定量技能。