Noninvasive cardiac psychophysiology as a tool for translational science with marmosets

Abstract

The importance of marmosets for comparative and translational science has grown in recent years because of their relatively rapid development, birth cohorts of twins, family social structure, and genetic tractability. Despite this, they remain understudied in investigations of affective processes. In this methodological note, we establish the validity of using noninvasive commercially available equipment to record cardiac physiology and compute indices of autonomic nervous system activity -a major component of affective processes. Specifically, we recorded electrocardiogram and impedance cardiogram, from which we derived heart rate, respiration rate, measures of high-frequency heart rate variability (indices of parasympathetic autonomic nervous system activity), and ventricular contractility (an index of sympathetic autonomic nervous system activity). Our methods produced physiologically plausible data, and further, animals with increased heart rates during testing were also more reactive to isolation from their social partner and presentation of novel objects, though no relationship was observed between reactivity and specific indices of parasympathetic or sympathetic nervous system activity. K E Y W O R D S affect, autonomic nervous system, heart rate variability, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, ventricular contractility Ashley M. Murphy

Salivary alpha‐amylase stress reactivity in advanced‐aged marmosets (Callithrix jacchus): Impacts of cognitive function and oral health status

“…In their study, they reported this sAA activity as negligible, but this is relative to 21 other mammalian species that express higher sAA levels. Previous studies have examined SNS reactivity in marmosets, but none have considered sAA reactivity in their measurements (Honda et al, 2013; Mikheenko et al, 2010; Murphy et al, 2019). In human studies, sAA levels return close to baseline values within 15–30 min of stress, albeit slightly higher (Almela et al, 2011; Kang, 2010; Nater et al, 2006; Strahler et al, 2010).…”

Introduction to Special Issue on Affective Science in Animals: Toward a Greater Understanding of Affective Processes in Non-Human Animals

“…Eye-tracking can also be used non-invasively in animals to give measures of attention to videos or photos with affective content (Ryan et al, 2019;Yorzinski et al, 2013). Autonomic tools also give us a non-invasive window into the internal affective lives of animals (Murphy et al, 2019).…”

Functional Cardiovascular Characterization of the Common Marmoset (Callithrix jacchus)

“…It displays a close genetic proximity to humans compared to more commonly used rodent species and has a low zoonotic potential [7,8]. This animal species is already established in a variety of research areas like inter alia neurological research, behavioral research, and stem cell research [9][10][11][12][13][14][15], and the recently discovered possibility to generate transgenic animals broadened its potential use even further [16]. In contrast to larger, longer-lived primate species, the common marmoset exhibits a fast gestational period and, thereby, might be advantageous to other NHP models.…”