Contributions of non-human primates to neuroscience research.
Non-human primates have a small but important role in basic and translational biomedical research, owing to similarities with human beings in physiology, cognitive capabilities, neuroanatomy, social complexity, reproduction, and development. Although non-human primates have contributed to many areas of biomedical research, we review here their unique contributions to work in neuroscience, and focus on four domains: Alzheimer's disease, neuroAIDS, Parkinson's disease, and stress. Our discussion includes, for example, the role of non-human primates in development of new treatments (eg, stem cells, gene transfer) before phase I clinical trials in patients; basic research on disease pathogenesis; and understanding neurobehavioural outcomes resulting from genotype-environment interactions.
Capitanio
John P
JP
California National Primate Research Center and Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. jpcapitanio@ucdavis.edu
Emborg
Marina E
ME
D000818:Animals; D035843:Biomedical Research; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D009488:Neurosciences; D011323:Primates