Periodic Reporting for period 2 - EMACTIVE (The interactive side of emotion: A neuroethological approach in freely-moving monkeys)
Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2025-03-31
So far, no available technique allows to study neural dynamics from the cellular to the whole-brain level in humans, and the available knowledge on these mechanisms indicate an extraordinary evolutionary continuity among human and non-human primates. Thus, the findings of this research can pave the way to understanding the neural mechanisms underlying human emotional behaviors and their alteration in various neuropsychiatric diseases.
On the technical and methodological side, we conducted initial tests on viral vector expression to evaluate their efficiency for optogenetic and chemogenetic experiments planned for future stages of the project.
We acquired and prepared the new equipment, including telemetric recording devices, required for neuroethological experiments.
Despite delays in obtaining the animals due to a general shortage of non-human primates from EU suppliers, we successfully acquired the first group of four monkeys for the project. We prepared these animals for neuroethological recordings by performing behavioral tests and experiments. These studies, conducted in collaboration with a renowned primatologist, have revealed unique social and behavioral dynamics among the group. The results may form the basis for a behavioral publication or serve as a foundation for the neuroethological recordings scheduled in the coming months.
In addition, no study has ever attempted to add the monitoring of physiological parameters (e.g. heart rate, body temperature, muscle activity) to the neuronal signals in freely moving monkeys. Therefore, the research agenda promises to reveal the neural mechanisms underlying the production of emotional and social displays in freely-interacting non-human primates, opening new lines of research in human subjects relevant for the understanding of the altered mechanisms in neurological and neuropsychiatric diseseas.