A sample of 100 male vervets was appraised with the Object Retrieval Task (ORT- a test of general cognitive ability) and Time-Restricted Arousal Induction Test (TRAIT- a response performance task based on ethological observations) and genotyped for a VNTR residing in exon III of the dopamine receptor 4 (DRD4) gene. A factor analysis of the combined measurements has revealed 3 factors, accounting for 70% of the variability. They were interpreted as cognitive ability (eigenvalue=4.3), cautiousness (eigenvalue=2.1) and impulsive responding (eigenvalue=1.3). No association was found between the DRD4 VNTR alleles and impulsive responding (F1,93 =0.082, p=0.775). The smallest and youngest within this sample of young adults have been found to display the most cautious behavior (p=0.002). The heaviest subjects displayed the most uninhibited response-style (p=0.045). And lastly, monkeys with cognitive difficulties had the highest CSF levels of the dopamine metabolite, HVA (p=0.017). / The ORT and TRAIT provide rapid screening measures of cognitive ability, cautiousness and impulsive-responding, but extensive validation of these measures with classical cognitive tests was beyond the scope of this project. The relationship between cognitive performance and resting levels of dopamine metabolites suggests that the battery may be useful in future studies of various psychopathological models in this species.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.99335 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Djivré, Ilan-Alan. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Human Genetics.) |
| Rights | © Ilan-Alan Djivré, 2006 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002562331, proquestno: AAIMR28480, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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