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At least 163 records · Page 9

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NASA NTRS1988

Spacelab Life Sciences-2 ARC payload - An overview

The effects of microgravity on the anatomy and physiology of rodent and primate systems will be investigated on the Spacelab Life Sciences 2 (SLS-2) mission. Here, the payload being developed at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) is described and illustrated with drawings. The ARC payload will build upon the success of previous missions. Experiments includes asssessment of rodent cardiovascular and vestibular system responses, primate thermoregulation and metabolic responses.

Savage, P. D., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Automation of learning-set testing - The video-task paradigm

Researchers interested in studying discrimination learning in primates have typically utilized variations in the Wisconsin General Test Apparatus (WGTA). In the present experiment, a new testing apparatus for the study of primate learning is proposed. In the video-task paradigm, rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) respond to computer-generated stimuli by manipulating a joystick. Using this apparatus, discrimination learning-set data for 2 monkeys were obtained. Performance on Trial 2 exceeded 80 percent within 200 discrimination learning problems. These data illustrate the utility of the video-task paradigm in comparative research. Additionally, the efficient learning and rich data that were characteristic of this study suggest several advantages of the present testing paradigm over traditional WGTA testing.

Washburn, David A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Comparative psychology and the great apes - Their competence in learning, language, and numbers

An overview of comparative studies conducted for the past three decades is presented. These studies have led to the establishment of the Language Research Center that provides facilities for research into questions of primate behavior and cognition. Several experiments conducted among chimpanzees are discussed and comparative analyses with the lesser apes, monkeys, and humans are offered. Among the primates, brain complexity varies widely and the evidence is strong that encephalization and enhanced brain complexity facilitate the learning of concepts, the transfer of learning to an advantage, and mediational and observational learning.

Rumbaugh, Duane M.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Human behavior and human performance: Psychomotor demands

The results of several experiments are presented in abstract form. These studies are critical for the interpretation and acceptance of flight based science to be conducted by the Behavior and Performance project. Some representative titles are as follow: External audio for IBM/PC compatible computers; A comparative assessment of psychomotor performance (target prediction by humans and macaques); Response path (a dependent measure for computer maze solving and other tasks); Behavioral asymmetries of psychomotor performance in Rhesus monkey (a dissociation between hand preference and skill); Testing primates with joystick based automated apparatus; and Environmental enrichment and performance assessment for ground or flight based research with primates;

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1992

The effects of video compression on acceptability of images for monitoring life sciences experiments

Future manned space operations for Space Station Freedom will call for a variety of carefully planned multimedia digital communications, including full-frame-rate color video, to support remote operations of scientific experiments. This paper presents the results of an investigation to determine if video compression is a viable solution to transmission bandwidth constraints. It reports on the impact of different levels of compression and associated calculational parameters on image acceptability to investigators in life-sciences research at ARC. Three nonhuman life-sciences disciplines (plant, rodent, and primate biology) were selected for this study. A total of 33 subjects viewed experimental scenes in their own scientific disciplines. Ten plant scientists viewed still images of wheat stalks at various stages of growth. Each image was compressed to four different compression levels using the Joint Photographic Expert Group (JPEG) standard algorithm, and the images were presented in random order. Twelve and eleven staffmembers viewed 30-sec videotaped segments showing small rodents and a small primate, respectively. Each segment was repeated at four different compression levels in random order using an inverse cosine transform (ICT) algorithm. Each viewer made a series of subjective image-quality ratings. There was a significant difference in image ratings according to the type of scene viewed within disciplines; thus, ratings were scene dependent. Image (still and motion) acceptability does, in fact, vary according to compression level. The JPEG still-image-compression levels, even with the large range of 5:1 to 120:1 in this study, yielded equally high levels of acceptability. In contrast, the ICT algorithm for motion compression yielded a sharp decline in acceptability below 768 kb/sec. Therefore, if video compression is to be used as a solution for overcoming transmission bandwidth constraints, the effective management of the ratio and compression parameters according to scientific discipline and experiment type is critical to the success of remote experiments.

Haines, Richard F.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Model for the computation of self-motion in biological systems

A technique is presented by which direction- and speed-tuned cells, such as those commonly found in the middle temporal region of the primate brain, can be utilized to analyze the patterns of retinal image motion that are generated during observer movement through the environment. The developed model determines heading by finding the peak response in a population of detectors or neurons each tuned to a particular heading direction. It is suggested that a complex interaction of multiple cell networks is required for the solution of the self-motion problem in the primate brain.

Perrone, John A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Cognitive competencies - Products of genes, experience, and technology

The paper examines methods used in studying cognitive competency in primates. Citing experiments on teaching language skills to chimpanzees, it is shown that some methods used for inquiry might lead to the cultivation and generation of new competencies, and specifically to the development of observational and relational learning skills. It is noted that methods can also limit the generality of conclusions; erroneous conclusions may be made based on certain generally accepted methods, whereby the research might be treatments that profoundly determine the assessment of dependent variables. Particular attention is given to the role of age in learning, showing that young primates can be taught the meaning of lexigrams and many specific tasks in much shorter time than adults; on the basis of these experiments, it was concluded that cultural gains did evolve primarily as a consequence of context within which infants were growing.

Rumbaugh, Duane M.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Comparative assessment of psychomotor performance - Target prediction by humans and macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Although nonhuman primates such as rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) have been useful models of many aspects of cognition and performance, it has been argued that, unlike humans, they may lack the capacity to respond as predictor-operators. Data from the present series of experiments undermine this claim, suggesting instead a continuity of predictive competency between humans and nonhuman primates. A prediction coefficient was devised to examine the degree to which each subject's response path approximated the optimal predictive strategy. Whereas human subjects (N= 30) generally predicted more accurately, rhesus monkeys (N= 10) also significantly anticipated the movements of the target in all conditions. It appears that humans and rhesus monkeys both exhibit the capacity to respond to where a stimulus is going.

Washburn, David A.↗

NASA NTRS1993

The rhesus measurement system: A new instrument for space research

The Rhesus Research Facility (RRF) is a research environment designed to study the effects of microgravity using rhesus primates as human surrogates. This experimental model allows investigators to study numerous aspects of microgravity exposure without compromising crew member activities. Currently, the RRF is slated for two missions to collect its data, the first mission is SLS-3, due to fly in late 1995. The RRF is a joint effort between the United States and France. The science and hardware portions of the project are being shared between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and France's Centre National D'Etudes Spatiales (CNES). The RRF is composed of many different subsystems in order to acquire data, provide life support, environmental enrichment, computer facilities and measurement capabilities for two rhesus primates aboard a nominal sixteen day mission. One of these subsystems is the Rhesus Measurement System (RMS). The RMS is designed to obtain in-flight physiological measurements from sensors interfaced with the subject. The RMS will acquire, preprocess, and transfer the physiologic data to the Flight Data System (FDS) for relay to the ground during flight. The measurements which will be taken by the RMS during the first flight will be respiration, measured at two different sites; electromyogram (EMG) at three different sites; electroencephalogram (EEG); electrocardiogram (ECG); and body temperature. These measurements taken by the RMS will assist the research team in meeting the science objectives of the RRF project.

Schonfeld, Julie E.↗

NASA NTRS1994

US experiments flown on the Soviet biosatellite Cosmos 2044. Volume 1: Mission description, experiments K-7-01 - K-7-15

Cosmos 2044 was launched on September 15, 1989, containing radiation dosimetry experiments and a biological payload including two young male rhesus monkeys, ten adult male Wistar rats, insects, amphibians, protozoa, cell cultures, worms, plants and fish. The biosatellite was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the Soviet Union for a mission duration of 14 days, as planned. The major research objectives were: (1) Study adaptive response mechanisms of mammals during flight; (2) Study physiological mechanisms underlying vestibular, motor system and brain function in primates during early and later adaptation phases; (3) Study the tissue regeneration processes of mammals; (4) Study the development of single-celled organisms, cell cultures and embryos in microgravity; (5) Study radiation characteristics during the mission and investigate doses, fluxes and spectra of cosmic radiation for various types of shielding. American and Soviet specialists jointly conducted 29 experiments on this mission including extensive preflight and post flight studies with rhesus monkeys, and tissue processing and cell culturing post flight. Biosamples and data were subsequently transferred to the United States. The U.S. responsibilities for this flight included development of flight and ground-based hardware, the preparation of rat tissue sample procedures, the verification testing of hardware and experiment procedures, and the post flight analysis of biospecimens and data for the joint experiments. The U.S. investigations included four primate experiments, 24 rat experiments, and one radiation dosimetry experiment. Three scientists investigated tissue repair during flight for a subgroup of rats injured preflight by surgical intervention. A description of the Cosmos 2044 mission is presented in this report including preflight, on-orbit and post flight activities. The flight and ground-based bioinstrumentation which was developed by the U.S. and U.S.S.R. is also described, along with the associated preflight testing of the U.S. hardware.

Connolly, James P.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Phenotype and Age Differences in Blood Gas Characteristics, Electrolytes, Hemoglobin, Plasma Glucose and Cortisol in Female Squirrel Monkeys

Due to its small size, lower cost, tractable nature, successful breeding in captivity and its status near the middle of the primate phylogenetic scale, the squirrel monkey has become an attractive primate model for basic and biomedical research. Although the squirrel monkey now is being used more extensively in many laboratories with diverse interests, only fragmentary reports have been published regarding basic physiological characteristics, or baseline blood reference values of different phenotypes, particularly blood gases, hematology and serum chemical constituents. It is becoming recognized increasingly that these baseline blood reference values are important not only in the care and maintenance of the squirrel monkey, but are critical for assessing normal physiological status, as well as the effects of various experimental treatments. The purpose of this study was to compare differences in blood gases, electrolytes, hematology, blood glucose and cortisol among young and old Bolivian (Roman type) and Colombian (Gothic type) phenotypes of the squirrel monkey.

Brizzee, K. R.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Differences in Mechanical Properties of the Human and Monkey Tibia

A method which uses an instrument that detects the response of a long bone to a vibratory stimulus to quantify mechanical properties non-invasively was revised and validated for use in the tibia. Stored data from healthy men was reanalyzed and compared with values from non-human primates. The analysis uses the relationship K(sub b) = 48 EI/L(sup 3) where K(sub b) is the lateral stiffness of a beam with force applied midspan, E is the elastic modulus, I the geometric moment of inertia and L, the limb length. Values for stiffness (EI, Nm(sup2)), the Euler buckling load (P(sub cr) = EI (pi/L)(sup 2)), and bone sufficiency (S) which represents the axial load the bone can support, adjusted to BW (S=P(sub cr)/BW) were obtained. The interest precision of the method in relaxed men, 5.8%, and in sedated male monkeys, 4.3%, was based on repeated measures in the same subjects at 1 month intervals. The R tibias of 40 men, aged 38.6 +/- 7.3 yrs with BW 78.9 +/- 7.9 kg, showed average (+/- SD) L to be 35 +/- 2 cm, EI 222 +/- 71 Nm(sup 2), P(sub cr) 18.1 +/- 4.9 kN, and S 23.4 +/- 5.7 N. The R tibias of 24 Rhesus monkeys ranging in age from 2-12 years, BW 4.9 +/- 3 kg, showed L to be 14.7 +/- 1.9 cm, EI 6.0 +/- 4.8 Nm(sup 2), P(sub cr) 2.51 +/- 1.2 kN and S 57.3 N. These measurements indicate that the tibia of a terrestrial non-human primate, M. mulatta, has higher load carrying capacity for the level of body weights in the species than the human bone.

Arnaud, Sara B.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Effect of Environmental Enrichment on Singly- and Group-Housed Squirrel Monkeys

Nonhuman primates display an interest in novel places, habituate to new situations, and spend most of their daily activity in the wild in large groups engaging in feeding behaviors. Captivity changes these behaviors, and disrupts normal social hierarchies. In captivity, animals may exhibit stereotypical behaviors which are thought to indicate decreased psychological well-being (PWB). If an animal's behaviors can be made to approach those seen in the wild, and stereotypical behaviors are minimal it is assumed that PWB is adequate. Environmental enrichment (EE) devices have been used to address the Animal Welfare Act's requirement that the PWB of captive nonhuman primates be considered. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether various EE devices improve the PWB of captive squirrel monkeys. The present study used behavioral observation to quantify the effectiveness of several EE devices in reducing stereotypical behaviors in squirrel monkeys housed singly or in groups. Results showed that the EE devices used did not affect the expression of normal or stereotypical behaviors, but that the type of housing did.

Spring, Sarah E.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Emulating the Visual Receptive Field Properties of MST Neurons with a Template Model of Heading Estimation

We have previously proposed a computational neural-network model by which the complex patterns of retinal image motion generated during locomotion (optic flow) can be processed by specialized detectors acting as templates for specific instances of self-motion. The detectors in this template model respond to global optic flow by sampling image motion over a large portion of the visual field through networks of local motion sensors with properties similar to neurons found in the middle temporal (MT) area of primate extrastriate visual cortex. The model detectors were designed to extract self-translation (heading), self-rotation, as well as the scene layout (relative distances) ahead of a moving observer, and are arranged in cortical-like heading maps to perform this function. Heading estimation from optic flow has been postulated by some to be implemented within the medial superior temporal (MST) area. Others have questioned whether MST neurons can fulfill this role because some of their receptive-field properties appear inconsistent with a role in heading estimation. To resolve this issue, we systematically compared MST single-unit responses with the outputs of model detectors under matched stimulus conditions. We found that the basic physiological properties of MST neurons can be explained by the template model. We conclude that MST neurons are well suited to support heading estimation and that the template model provides an explicit set of testable hypotheses which can guide future exploration of MST and adjacent areas within the primate superior temporal sulcus.

Perrone, John A.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Body mass, energy intake, and water consumption of rats and humans during space flight

Alteration of metabolism has been suggested as a major limiting factor to long-term space flight. In humans and primates, a negative energy balance has been reported. The metabolic response of rats to space flight has been suggested to result in a negative energy balance. We hypothesized that rats flown in space would maintain energy balance as indicated by maintenance of caloric intake and body mass gain. Further, the metabolism of the rat would be similar to that of laboratory-reared animals. We studied the results from 15 space flights lasting 4 to 19 d. There was no difference in average body weight (206 +/- 13.9 versus 206 +/- 14.8 g), body weight gain (5.8 +/- 0.48 versus 5.9 +/- 0.56 g/d), caloric intake (309 +/- 21.0 versus 309 +/- 20.1 kcal/kg of body mass per day), or water intake (200 +/- 8.6 versus 199 +/- 9.3 mL/kg of body mass per day) between flight and ground control animals. Compared with standard laboratory animals of similar body mass, no differences were noted. The observations suggested that the negative balance observed in humans and non-human primates may be due to other factors in the space-flight environment.

Non-NASA Center↗

NASA NTRS2001

Spatial scale of motion segmentation from speed cues

For the accurate perception of multiple, potentially overlapping, surfaces or objects, the visual system must distinguish different local motion vectors and selectively integrate similar motion vectors over space to segment the retinal image properly. We recently showed that large differences in speed are required to yield a percept of motion transparency. In the present study, to investigate the spatial scale of motion segmentation from speed cues alone, we measured the speed-segmentation threshold (the minimum speed difference required for 75% performance accuracy) for 'corrugated' random-dot patterns, i.e. patterns in which dots with two different speeds were alternately placed in adjacent bars of variable width. In a first experiment, we found that, at large bar widths, a smaller speed difference was required to segment and perceive the corrugated pattern of moving dots, while at small bar-widths, a larger speed difference was required to segment the two speeds and perceive two transparent surfaces of moving dots. Both the perceptual and segmentation performance transitions occurred at a bar width of around 0.4 degrees. In a second experiment, speed-segmentation thresholds were found to increase sharply when dots with different speeds were paired within a local pooling area. The critical pairing distance was about 0.2 degrees in the fovea and increased linearly with stimulus eccentricity. However, across the range of eccentricities tested (up to 15 degrees ), the critical pairing distance did not change much and remained close to the receptive field size of neurons within the primate primary visual cortex. In a third experiment, increasing dot density changed the relationship between speed-segmentation thresholds and bar width. Thresholds decreased for large bar widths, but increased for small bar widths. All of these results are well fit by a simple stochastic model, which estimates the probabilities of having identical or different motion vectors within a local pooling area whose size is the same as that of primate V1 neurons. Altogether, these results demonstrate that speed-based segmentation can function well, even at small spatial scales (i.e. high-spatial frequencies of spatial corrugation) and thereby emphasizes the critical role of a local pooling process early in the cortical motion-processing pathway.

NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗

NASA NTRS1999

Visual circuits of the avian telencephalon: evolutionary implications

Birds and primates are vertebrates that possess the most advanced, efficient visual systems. Although lineages leading to these two classes were separated about 300 million years ago, there are striking similarities in their underlying neural mechanisms for visual processing. This paper discusses such similarities with special emphasis on the visual circuits in the avian telencephalon. These similarities include: (1) the existence of two parallel visual pathways and their distinct telencephalic targets, (2) anatomical and functional segregation within the visual pathways, (3) laminar organization of the telencephalic targets of the pathways (e.g. striate cortex in primates), and (4) possible interactions between multiple visual areas. Additional extensive analyses are necessary to determine whether these similarities are due to inheritance from a common ancestral stock or the consequences of convergent evolution based on adaptive response to similar selective pressures. Nevertheless, such a comparison is important to identify the general and specific principles of visual processing in amniotes (reptiles, birds, and mammals). Furthermore, these principles in turn will provide a critical foundation for understanding the evolution of the brain in amniotes.

Review, Tutorial↗

NASA NTRS1997

Toward an agreement on terminology of nuclear and subnuclear divisions of the motor thalamus

The nomenclature most commonly applied to the motor-related nuclei of the human thalamus differs substantially from that applied to the thalamus of other primates, from which most knowledge of input-output connections is derived. Knowledge of these connections in the human is a prerequisite for stereotactic neurosurgical approaches designed to alleviate movement disorders by the placement of lesions in specific nuclei. Transfer to humans of connectional information derived from experimental studies in nonhuman primates requires agreement about the equivalence of nuclei in the different species, and dialogue between experimentalists and neurosurgeons would be facilitated by the use of a common nomenclature. In this review, the authors compare the different nomenclatures and review the cyto- and chemoarchitecture of the nuclei in the anterolateral aspect of the ventral nuclear mass in humans and monkeys, suggest which nuclei are equivalent, and propose a common terminology. On this basis, it is possible to identify the nuclei of the human motor thalamus that transfer information from the substantia nigra, globus pallidus, cerebellum, and proprioceptive components of the medial lemniscus to prefrontal, premotor, motor, and somatosensory areas of the cerebral cortex. It also becomes possible to suggest the principal functional systems involved in stereotactically guided thalamotomies and the functional basis of the symptoms observed following ischemic lesions in different parts of the human thalamus.

Non-NASA Center↗