This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing theresources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject andinvestigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source,and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed isfor the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator.This project has three studies that utilize the cohorts of stressed and control nonhuman primates generated during the previous funding period of the Conte grant. Study 1 (investigator: Stuart Zola, Ph.D.) examines the effects of early stress on subsequent cognitive abilities, with an emphasis on declarative and nondeclarative memory functions. Behavioral tasks sensitive to medial temporal damage, to striatal damage, and to frontal lobe damage, respectively are being used to assess the impact of early life stress on subsequent cognitive abilities, especially memory function. Study 2 (investigators: Lisa Parr Ph.D., Mar Sanchez, Ph.D.) is looking at the effects of early stress on the development of emotional behavior, with an emphasis on fear and anxiety, and changes in cerebral glucose metabolism. Study 3 (investigator: Leonard Howell, Ph.D.) asks whether early stress results in acquiring cocaine self-administration more rapidly than control monkeys, and whether there is more resistance to extinction compared to control monkeys. The studies use structural and/or functional brain imaging to clarify the relationship between behavioral changes and changes in brain, and will look at neurochemical assessments to clarify the relation between behavioral changes and brain chemistry due to early life stress. Study 1 and Study 2 will use the same groups of monkeys. This is both an efficient use of a very valuable resource, and it allows us to compare findings in two different domains of behavior, i.e., memory and emotion, in the same animals. By necessity, an entirely separate group of monkeys is used for Study 3. Monkeys are currently undergoing behavioral testing. As they complete their testing, they will be readied for telemetry implantation (Study 2) as well as ongoing leg training for blood draws. Study 3 monkeys are in ongoing training.
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