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Stop Animal
Exploitation NOW!
S. A. E. N.
"Exposing the truth to wipe
out animal experimentation"
Government Grants Promoting Cruelty to Animals
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
JON H. KAAS- Primate Testing - 2006
Grant Number: 5R01NS016446-26
Project Title: Functional Organization of the Somatosensory
System
PI Information: PROFESSOR JON H. KAAS,
[email protected]
Abstract: DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant):
The broad objectives of this research program are to determine the
normal organization of sensory and motor systems in primates, how these
systems process sensory information, and how they respond to damage. Aim
1. We will use microelectrode recordings to identify representations of
the teeth and tongue in area 31, 3b, and 1 of monkey somatosensory
cortex, place injections of tracers in these representations, and reveal
much of the cortical network for processing information from these
structures. This network is only partly known, and yet proper food
evaluation and processing are critically important to human health. Aim
2. Microstimulation experiments in posterior parietal cortex suggest
that this cortex contains a number of distinct subregions where
different ethologically relevant movement patterns can be evoked. We
will use microstimulation to define these regions in monkeys, and inject
tracers into these regions and presumptive targets to determine their
connections with higher order sensory areas and to motor and premotor
areas in monkeys. An understanding of this system would promote an
understanding of how such regions function and malfunction in humans.
Aim 3. We will use chronically embedded microelectrode arrays to
intensively study the response properties of neurons in somatosensory
hand cortex (3a, 3b, 1) of monkeys, with an emphasis on the interactions
of effects of stimuli within and outside the minimal receptive field.
The results will reveal contextual effects that are at the roots of form
and object perception, and highly relevant to somatosensory processing
in humans. Aim 4. The integrity and plasticity of somatosensory and
motor representations will be evaluated with microelectrode recordings
and microstimulation after recoveries from high cervical dorsal column
lesions in the spinal cords of neonatal and mature monkeys. Chronically
embedded electrode arrays in somatosensory cortex will evaluate the
response properties of reactivated neurons. Injections of tracers into
motor cortex will reveal any alterations in corticospinal projection
patterns. Microstimulation experiments will reveal possible alterations
in the functional organization of motor cortex as a result of sensory
deprivation. These experiments will reveal the types of reorganization
that occur in mature and developing systems after massive sensory loss.
Results may lead to more effective post-injury treatments for humans
with spinal cord injury.
Thesaurus Terms:
neural information processing, neuroanatomy, sensorimotor system,
somesthetic sensory cortex dorsal column, head movement, limb movement,
motor cortex, neural plasticity, neuron, parietal lobe /cortex, tongue,
tooth Aotus, Macaca fascicularis, Macaca mulatta, charge coupled device
camera, microelectrode
Institution: VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
Medical Center, NASHVILLE, TN 372036869
Fiscal Year: 2006
Department: PSYCHOLOGY
Project Start: 01-JUL-1980
Project End: 31-JUL-2009
ICD: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE
IRG: SCS
Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.
2000;41:4022-4031
Binocular Cross-Orientation Suppression in the Primary Visual Cortex
(V1) of Infant Rhesus Monkeys
Minoru Endo1,2, Jon H. Kaas3,
Neeragi Jain3, Earl L. Smith, III1
and Yuzo Chino1
1From the College of Optometry,
University of Houston, Houston, Texas; and 2Department
of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.
Subjects and Surgical Preparation
The preparation and recording methods have been described in detail
elsewhere.8 12 The ages of the infant monkeys (Macaca mulatta) at the
time of recording experiments were 1 (n = 3), 2 (n = 2), 4 (n = 2), or 8
weeks (n = 2). The monkeys were anesthetized initially with an
intramuscular injection of ketamine hydrochloride (15�20 mg/kg) and
acepromazine maleate (0.15�0.2 mg/kg), and a superficial vein was
cannulated. All subsequent surgical procedures, including a tracheotomy
and a small craniotomy and durotomy over the operculum of V1, were
carried out under sodium thiopental anesthesia (2.5% solution). Each
animal was given an initial injection of between 10 and 15 mg/kg. During
the surgical procedures small amounts of the anesthetic were given every
5 to 10 minutes to maintain a deep level of anesthesia, that is, the
corneal blink reflex and the withdrawal reflex produced by a paw-pad
pinch were completely suppressed. After all surgical procedures, the
animals were paralyzed by an intravenous (i.v.) infusion of pancuronium
bromide (a loading dose of 0.1�0.2 mg/kg, followed by a continuous
infusion at the rate of 0.1 to 0.2 mg/kg/h). The animals were
artificially respired with a mixture of 59% N2O, 39% O2, and 2% CO2 to
maintain an end-tidal CO2 between 4.0% and 4.5%. The core body
temperature of the monkeys was kept at 37.6�C. Throughout the recording
session, the anesthesia was monitored and maintained by the continuous
i.v. infusion of sodium pentobarbital (2�4 mg/kg/h). Cycloplegia was
produced by 1% atropine sulfate, and the animal�s corneas were protected
with rigid, gas permeable, extended-wear contact lenses. Retinoscopy was
used to determine the contact lens parameters required to focus the eyes
on the stimulus screens. |
Please email: JON H. KAAS,
[email protected] to protest the inhumane use of animals in this
experiment. We would also love to know about your efforts with this
cause:
[email protected]
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Rats, mice, birds, amphibians and other animals have
been excluded from coverage by the Animal Welfare Act. Therefore research
facility reports do not include these animals. As a result of this
situation, a blank report, or one with few animals listed, does not mean
that a facility has not performed experiments on non-reportable animals. A
blank form does mean that the facility in question has not used covered
animals (primates, dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, pigs,
sheep, goats, etc.). Rats and mice alone are believed to comprise over 90%
of the animals used in experimentation. Therefore the majority of animals
used at research facilities are not even counted.
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