Simple and Choice Reaction Time Performance in SIV-Infected Rhesus Macaques

Abstract

It is well established that HIV infection can lead to motor/cognitive disorders in humans. A number of studies have shown that simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection in rhesus macaques parallels many aspects of HIV disease in humans. The purpose of this study was to define further the SIV-infected rhesus macaque as a model of neuro-AIDS. Our objective was to detect movement-related impairments in behaviorally trained, SIV-infected macaques using both simple and choice reaction time tasks. Reaction times (RTs), movement times (MTs), and error types were examined. Nine monkeys were infected with neurovirulent strains of SIVmac, four of which served initially as controls before their inoculation. Seven of the nine monkeys developed simian AIDS within 4 months of inoculation (rapid progressors), while two monkeys survived for more than 1 year postinoculation (slow progressors). Of the rapid progressors, four exhibited slowed reaction times and six showed movement time slowing. One rapid progressor showed evidence of a strategy shift to overcome impaired motor abilities. Monkeys with rapidly progressing SIV-related disease consistently show behavioral abnormalities reflecting underlying neuronal injury. Although the slow progressors also showed RT and/or MT slowing, a role for nonspecific factors related to late-stage simian AIDS could not be ruled out in these cases. The results demonstrate that motor impairments associated with SIV infection in rhesus macaques can be detected using RT and MT measures, further establishing the SIVmac-infected macaque monkey as a viable model of neuro-AIDS.

Motor skill impairment in SIV‐infected rhesus macaques with rapidly and slowly progressing disease

“…The motor skill declines documented in this paper, together with impairments on simple and choice reaction time tasks in the same monkeys reported earlier [26], support the contention that the motor system is a target of SIV infection in rhesus macaques. Reaction time (RT) and movement time (MT) deficits were comparable to those found in HIV patients.…”

Effects of Morphine on Behavioral Task Performance in SIV-Infected Rhesus Macaques

“…Neurological complications such as increased cognitive deficits and behavioral impairments have been shown in HIV-infected subjects dependent on opiates compared to HIV-infected non-drug abusers (Bell et al, 1996; Chiesi et al, 1996; Bell et al, 1998; Goodkin et al, 1998; Nath et al, 2001; Bell et al, 2006; Anthony et al, 2008; Hellmuth et al, 2014) and in SIV infected macaques (Marcario et al, 1999a; Marcario et al, 1999b; Fox et al, 2000; Weed and Gold, 2001; Weed et al, 2003; Weed et al, 2004; Cheney et al, 2008). Previous studies from our group have shown that morphine potentiates neuropathognesis in macaques infected with SIV mac R71/17E (Marcario et al, 2008; Bokhari et al, 2011).…”

Rhesus Macaque Model of Chronic Opiate Dependence and Neuro-AIDS: Longitudinal Assessment of Auditory Brainstem Responses and Visual Evoked Potentials

“…SIV-infected animals exhibit altered functional integrity of motor and sensory pathways as well as impaired behavioral performance with the progression of disease (Gold et al, 1998; Horn et al, 1998; Marcario et al, 1999a, b; Murray et al, 1992; Prospero-Garcia et al, 1996; Raymond et al, 1998; Raymond et al, 1999; Raymond et al, 2000; Weed et al, 2004). In previous studies using a cohort of SIV mac R71/17E inoculated rhesus macaques, we demonstrated that ABR and VEP peak latency shifts generally correlate with underlying neuropathology at the level of the auditory brainstem nuclei and visual pathway structures (Raymond et al, 1998; Raymond et al, 2000).…”