Review of Environmental and Health Factors Impacting Captive Common Marmoset Welfare in the Biomedical Research Setting
As a small-bodied neotropical nonhuman primate species, common marmosets have unique requirements for adequate husbandry and veterinary care to ensure proper maintenance and to promote good animal welfare in a biomedical research setting. Environmental conditions, as well as medical and research-related manipulations, can impact marmoset welfare. Research focus areas, including basic neuroscience, transgenics, and aging, […]
“Separation/Abandonment/Isolation Trauma:” What We Can Learn From Our Nonhuman Primate Relatives
Building upon my prior work exploring the impact of childhood abandonment and isolation on chimpanzees and humans, this article discusses the relevance of nonhuman primate research to our understanding of this phenomenon in children. Both laboratory research and naturalistic studies have confirmed the strong commonalities in parenting between our 2 species and have reached similar […]
Effects of chronic stress: A comparison between tethered and loose sows
The present study aimed to investigate whether long-lasting, recurrent tethering of sows leads to enduring effects on measures that may be indicative of chronic stress. Sows that had experienced tethering for about 1.5 or 4.5 years and age-matched sows kept in a social housing system (loose sows) were compared. Immediately after slaughter, blood samples were taken […]
The free-exploratory paradigm as a model of trait anxiety in rats: Test–retest reliability
The free exploratory paradigm has been proposed as a model of trait anxiety. By definition, trait anxiety does not vary from moment to moment, therefore any model used to evaluate it needs to give the same results in sequential trials. With this in mind, the test–retest reliability of the free-exploratory paradigm in rats was evaluated. […]
Foraging ‘enrichment’ as treatment for pterotillomania
This study was performed to determine whether foraging ‘enrichment’ reduces self-directed psychogenic feather picking (pterotillomania) in parrots. A positive correlation between increased foraging time and improvement of feather score was hypothesised. Eighteen pterotillomanic African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups in a crossover design for two 1-month-periods. The experimental […]
Biology, behavior, and environmental enrichment for the captive African clawed frog (Xenopus spp)
Xenopus are a hardy, long-lived, aquatic amphibian species which readily adapt to a captive environment. This characteristic makes Xenopus ideal for the laboratory, where they are used extensively in basic and biomedical research. Though husbandry practices for Xenopus have not been standardized, there is burgeoning evidence that environmental enrichment can limit fighting, cannibalism, and can […]
Animal Research Ethics
Abstract Animal research provides the working basis for much of medical practice but has been criticized by opponents who feel that it is cruel and unnecessary. Animal activists and moral philosophers hold that it is wrong to perform studies on animals that would not be done on humans. Biomedical scientists maintain that an understanding of […]
Voluntary exercise enhances activity rhythms and ameliorates anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in the sand rat model of circadian rhythm-related mood changes
Physical exercise is a non-pharmacological treatment for affective disorders. The mechanisms of its effects are unknown although some suggest a relationship to synchronization of circadian rhythms. One way to explore mechanisms is to utilize animal models. We previously demonstrated that the diurnal fat sand rat is an advantageous model for studying the interactions between photoperiods […]