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Covarrubias BV, Kamminga JM, Muchlinski MN, Munds RA, Villero Núñez V, Bauman Surratt S, Martinez MI, Montague MJ, Higham JP, Melin AD, Veilleux CC. Investigating mechanoreceptor variability and morphometric proxies in Rhesus Macaques: Implications for primate precision touch studies. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2024. [PMID: 39367664 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2024] [Revised: 07/26/2024] [Accepted: 09/13/2024] [Indexed: 10/06/2024]
Abstract
The origin of primates has long been associated with an increased emphasis on manual grasping and touch. Precision touch, facilitated by specialized mechanoreceptors in glabrous skin, provides critical sensory feedback for grasping-related tasks and perception of ecologically-relevant stimuli. Despite its importance, studies of mechanoreceptors in primate hands are limited, in part due to challenges of sample availability and histological methods. Dermatoglyphs have been proposed as alternative proxies of mechanoreceptor density. We investigated the relationships between mechanoreceptors (Meissner and Pacinian corpuscles), dermatoglyphs, and demography in the apical finger pads of 15 juvenile to adult rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) from a free-ranging population at Cayo Santiago Primate Field Station (Puerto Rico). Our results indicate substantial interindividual variation in mechanoreceptor density (Meissner corpuscles: 11.9-43.3 corpuscles/mm2; Pacinian corpuscles: 0-4.5 corpuscles/mm2). While sex and digit were generally not associated with variation, there was strong evidence of a developmental effect. Specifically, apical pad length, Meissner corpuscle size, and Pacinian corpuscle depth increased while mechanoreceptor densities decreased throughout juvenescence, suggesting that primate mechanoreceptors change as fingers grow during adolescence and then stabilize at physical maturity. We also found Meissner corpuscle density was significantly associated with dermatoglyph ridge width and spacing, such that density predicted by a dermatoglyph model was strongly correlated with observed values. Dermatoglyphs thus offer a useful proxy of relative Meissner corpuscle density in primates, which opens exciting avenues of noninvasive research. Finally, our results underscore the importance of considering demographic factors and methodology in comparative studies of primate touch.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jordan M Kamminga
- Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, Glendale, Arizona, USA
| | - M N Muchlinski
- Anatomical Science Education Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - R A Munds
- Department of Anthropology & Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - V Villero Núñez
- Caribbean Primate Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
| | - S Bauman Surratt
- Caribbean Primate Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
| | - M I Martinez
- Caribbean Primate Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
| | - M J Montague
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - J P Higham
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, New York, USA
| | - A D Melin
- Department of Anthropology & Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - C C Veilleux
- Department of Anatomy, Midwestern University, Glendale, Arizona, USA
- Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, Glendale, Arizona, USA
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Bartolomucci A, Kane AE, Gaydosh L, Razzoli M, McCoy BM, Ehninger D, Chen BH, Howlett SE, Snyder-Mackler N. Animal Models Relevant for Geroscience: Current Trends and Future Perspectives in Biomarkers, and Measures of Biological Aging. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2024; 79:glae135. [PMID: 39126297 PMCID: PMC11316208 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glae135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2024] Open
Abstract
For centuries, aging was considered inevitable and immutable. Geroscience provides the conceptual framework to shift this focus toward a new view that regards aging as an active biological process, and the biological age of an individual as a modifiable entity. Significant steps forward have been made toward the identification of biomarkers for and measures of biological age, yet knowledge gaps in geroscience are still numerous. Animal models of aging are the focus of this perspective, which discusses how experimental design can be optimized to inform and refine the development of translationally relevant measures and biomarkers of biological age. We provide recommendations to the field, including: the design of longitudinal studies in which subjects are deeply phenotyped via repeated multilevel behavioral/social/molecular assays; the need to consider sociobehavioral variables relevant for the species studied; and finally, the importance of assessing age of onset, severity of pathologies, and age-at-death. We highlight approaches to integrate biomarkers and measures of functional impairment using machine learning approaches designed to estimate biological age as well as to predict future health declines and mortality. We expect that advances in animal models of aging will be crucial for the future of translational geroscience but also for the next chapter of medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Bartolomucci
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Alice E Kane
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, Washington, USA
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Lauren Gaydosh
- Department of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Maria Razzoli
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Brianah M McCoy
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Dan Ehninger
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Bonn, Germany
| | - Brian H Chen
- California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, Sutter Health, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA
| | - Susan E Howlett
- Departments of Pharmacology and Medicine (Geriatric Medicine), Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Noah Snyder-Mackler
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
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Watowich MM, Costa CE, Chiou KL, Goldman EA, Petersen RM, Patterson S, Martínez MI, Sterner KN, Horvath JE, Montague MJ, Platt ML, Brent LJN, Higham JP, Lea AJ, Snyder-Mackler N. Immune gene regulation is associated with age and environmental adversity in a nonhuman primate. Mol Ecol 2024:e17445. [PMID: 39032090 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2023] [Revised: 04/27/2024] [Accepted: 06/14/2024] [Indexed: 07/22/2024]
Abstract
Phenotypic aging is ubiquitous across mammalian species, suggesting shared underlying mechanisms of aging. Aging is linked to molecular changes to DNA methylation and gene expression, and environmental factors, such as severe external challenges or adversities, can moderate these age-related changes. Yet, it remains unclear whether environmental adversities affect gene regulation via the same molecular pathways as chronological, or 'primary', aging. Investigating molecular aging in naturalistic animal populations can fill this gap by providing insight into shared molecular mechanisms of aging and the effects of a greater diversity of environmental adversities - particularly those that can be challenging to study in humans or laboratory organisms. Here, we characterised molecular aging - specifically, CpG methylation - in a sample of free-ranging rhesus macaques living off the coast of Puerto Rico (n samples = 571, n individuals = 499), which endured a major hurricane during our study. Age was associated with methylation at 78,661 sites (31% of all sites tested). Age-associated hypermethylation occurred more frequently in areas of active gene regulation, while hypomethylation was enriched in regions that show less activity in immune cells, suggesting these regions may become de-repressed in older individuals. Age-associated hypomethylation also co-occurred with increased chromatin accessibility while hypermethylation showed the opposite trend, hinting at a coordinated, multi-level loss of epigenetic stability during aging. We detected 32,048 CpG sites significantly associated with exposure to a hurricane, and these sites overlapped age-associated sites, most strongly in regulatory regions and most weakly in quiescent regions. Together, our results suggest that environmental adversity may contribute to aging-related molecular phenotypes in regions of active gene transcription, but that primary aging has specific signatures in non-regulatory regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina M Watowich
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Christina E Costa
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, New York, USA
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, New York, USA
| | - Kenneth L Chiou
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Elisabeth A Goldman
- Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - Rachel M Petersen
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Sam Patterson
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Melween I Martínez
- Caribbean Primate Research Center, Unit of Comparative Medicine, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA
| | - Kirstin N Sterner
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA
| | - Julie E Horvath
- Research and Collections Section, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
- Renaissance Computing Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Michael J Montague
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Michael L Platt
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Psychology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Marketing Department, Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Lauren J N Brent
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - James P Higham
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, New York, USA
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, New York, USA
| | - Amanda J Lea
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Noah Snyder-Mackler
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
- Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
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Diaz AA, Hernández-Pacheco R, Rosati AG. Individual differences in sociocognitive traits in semi-free-ranging rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Am J Primatol 2024:e23660. [PMID: 38961748 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2024] [Revised: 05/02/2024] [Accepted: 06/21/2024] [Indexed: 07/05/2024]
Abstract
Characterizing individual differences in cognition is crucial for understanding the evolution of cognition as well as to test the biological consequences of different cognitive traits. Here, we harnessed the strengths of a uniquely large, naturally-living primate population at the Cayo Santiago Biological Field Station to characterized individual differences in rhesus monkey performance across two social cognitive tasks. A total of n = 204 semi-free-ranging adult rhesus monkeys participated in a data collection procedure, where we aimed to test individuals on both tasks at two time-points that were one year apart. In the socioemotional responses task, we assessed monkeys' attention to conspecific photographs with neutral versus negative emotional expressions. We found that monkeys showed overall declines in interest in conspecific photographs with age, but relative increases in attention to threat stimuli specifically, and further that these responses exhibited long-term stability across repeated testing. In the gaze following task we assessed monkeys' propensity to co-orient with an experimenter. Here, we found no evidence for age-related change in responses, and responses showed only limited repeatability over time. Finally, we found some evidence for common individual variation for performance across the tasks: monkeys that showed greater interest in conspecific photographs were more likely to follow a human's gaze. These results show how studies of comparative cognitive development and aging can provide insights into the evolution of cognition, and identify core primate social cognitive traits that may be related across and within individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis A Diaz
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Long Beach, California, USA
| | | | - Alexandra G Rosati
- Departments of Psychology and Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
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Bartolomucci A, Tung J, Harris KM. The fortunes and misfortunes of social life across the life course: A new era of research from field, laboratory and comparative studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 162:105655. [PMID: 38583652 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2024] [Revised: 03/31/2024] [Accepted: 04/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
Social gradients in health and aging have been reported in studies across many human populations, and - as the papers included in this special collection highlight - also occur across species. This paper serves as a general introduction to the special collection of Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews entitled "Social dimensions of health and aging: population studies, preclinical research, and comparative research using animal models". Authors of the fourteen reviews are primarily members of a National Institute of Aging-supported High Priority Research Network on "Animal Models for the Social Dimensions of Health and Aging". The collection is introduced by a foreword, commentaries, and opinion pieces by leading experts in related fields. The fourteen reviews are divided into four sections: Section 1: Biodemography and life course studies; Section 2: Social behavior and healthy aging in nonhuman primates; Section 3: Social factors, stress, and hallmarks of aging; Section 4: Neuroscience and social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Bartolomucci
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA; Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
| | - Jenny Tung
- Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Canada; Duke Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
| | - Kathleen Mullan Harris
- Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
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Sapolsky R. Making sense of the costs of adversity throughout the lifespan on aging in humans and other animals. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 159:105571. [PMID: 38316195 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
Social adversity, particularly early in life, can cause lifelong damage to health; by now, numerous studies examine this relationship in non-human species, producing some important themes: A) Captive animals readily lack ethological validity, giving a special place to studies of natural populations; one must appreciate though, that animal studies typically benefit humans who themselves lack ecological validity, namely Westernized subjects. B) Animal studies of the links between social adversity and psychiatric maladies potentially produce anthropomorphism; however, long-term study of our closest relatives demonstrates how convincingly another primate can, for example, experience grief, rather than display "grief-like" behavior. C) Are long-term consequences of social adversity best viewed as maladaptive and pathological, or as adaptive preparation for similar adversity later in life?; the growing literature casts light on when adversity's consequences are the purview of medicine or natural history. D) Studies examining sustained adversity and aging can increasingly distinguish between aging versus diseases of aging or cohort effects, and between aging effects arising from direct physiological mechanisms or indirect behavioral ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Sapolsky
- Departments of Biology, Neurology and Neurosurgery, Stanford University, United States.
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