Ensuring due process in the IACUC and animal welfare setting: considerations in developing noncompliance policies and procedures for institutional animal care and use committees and institutional officials.

Every institution that is involved in research with animals is expected to have in place policies and procedures for the management of allegations of noncompliance with the Animal Welfare Act and the U.S. Public Health Service Policy on the Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.

Neostriatal Neuronal Activity Correlates Better with Movement Kinematics under Certain Rewards.

This study investigated how the activity of neostriatal neurons is related to the kinematics of movement when monkeys performed visually and vibratory cued wrist extensions and flexions. Single-unit recordings of 142/236 neostriatal neurons showed pre-movement activity (PMA) in a reaction time task with unpredictable reward. Monkeys were pseudo-randomly (75%) rewarded for correct performance.

Motor Planning under Unpredictable Reward: Modulations of Movement Vigor and Primate Striatum Activity.

Although reward probability is an important factor that shapes animal's behavior, it is not well understood how the brain translates reward expectation into the vigor of movement [reaction time (RT) and speed]. To address this question, we trained two monkeys in a RT task that required wrist movements in response to vibrotactile and visual stimuli, with a variable reward schedule. Correct performance was rewarded in 75% of the trials.

Monkey primary somatosensory cortical activity during the early reaction time period differs with cues that guide movements.

Vibration-related neurons in monkey primary somatosensory cortex (SI) discharge rhythmically when vibratory stimuli are presented. It remains unclear how functional information carried by vibratory inputs is coded in rhythmic neuronal activity. In the present study, we compared neuronal activity during wrist movements in response to two sets of cues.

Neuronal activity in monkey primary somatosensory cortex is related to expectation of somatosensory and visual go-cues.

The present study was to investigate whether neuronal activity in primary somatosensory cortical areas (SI) differs when monkeys expect go-cues of different sensory modalities. Two monkeys made wrist extensions and flexions after steadily holding wrist at a center position. Movements were guided by increases in vibration to the monkey's palm (VIB), visual targets (VIS), or both in combination (COM).

Detecting neuronal activity changes using an interspike interval algorithm compared with using visual inspection.

A universally accepted method for efficiently detecting neuronal activity changes (NACs) in neurophysiological studies has not been established. Visual inspection is still considered to be one of the most reliable methods, although it is limited when it is used for analyzing large quantities of data. In this study, an algorithm that considers interspike intervals (ISIs) was developed to define the onset of NACs.

Neuronal activity in primary motor cortex differs when monkeys perform somatosensory and visually guided wrist movements.

This study was designed to investigate how activity patterns of primary motor cortical (MI) neurons change when monkeys perform the same movements guided by somatosensory and/or visual cues. Two adult male rhesus monkeys were trained to make wrist extensions and flexions after holding a steady position during an instructed delay period lasting 0.5-2.

Enrichment and nonhuman primates: "first, do no harm".

Since the 1998 publication of The Psychological Well-Being of Nonhuman Primates by the National Research Council, and the 1991 implementation of the 1985 Animal Welfare Act Amendment, many formal and informal nonhuman primate enrichment programs have been put into practice. Reports of their successes and failures, however, are few. All programs have at least two things in common: (1) They are best when designed and maintained by teams of individuals with species-specific expertise; (2) the members of those teams, the stakeholders, usually include principal investigators, animal care and use committee members, veterinarians, and animal care staff.