# Squirrel Monkey Breeding and Research Resource - Administrative Supplement (Cognitive Development)

> **NIH NIH P40** · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · 2021 · $376,415

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a major health concern defined by pathologic changes in the brain that
coincide with altered behavior and cognitive function. Many have suggested that there is a need for primate
models of AD because they naturally recapitulate some neuropathological features of AD with advanced age
whereas other model organisms (i.e., rodents) do not. For instance, while amyloid-beta (Aβ) deposition occurs
in most mammals, tau-positive neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) have only been identified in a few nonhuman
species studied to date. Additionally, elderly nonhuman primates from several different Genera, develop
cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), a neurovascular condition found in 80% of AD patients and associated
with cognitive decline. Here, we are proposing to develop squirrel monkeys as a model species for current and
future studies on the biology of aging and AD research. Specifically, we propose to train a cohort of group
socially-living squirrel monkeys on the use of an automated cognitive testing system (ACTS) that is designed to
assess a variety of cognitive functions including learning, memory and executive control. Creating large
cohorts of squirrel monkeys trained on the ACTS system will provide animals with established cognitive
phenotypes for use in preclinical studies and allow for examining their association with potential age-related
differences in neuroanatomical, neuropathological and biomarker data. In addition, we will test whether
experience with an ACTS influences age-related changes in gray matter volume and white matter integrity.
Magnetic resonance images (MRI) will be obtained from 20 elderly and geriatric monkeys trained on the ACTS
and 20 age-sex matched control monkeys that were not trained on the ACTS. To examine whether learning to
use an ACTS slows down the normal brain aging process, we will compare gray matter volume and white
matter integrity between the ACTS and control monkeys using voxel-based morphometry. If cognitive
stimulation late in life preserves cognitive functioning and inhibits rates of change in cortical organization,
then we hypothesize that ACTS monkeys will have increased gray matter volume and white matter integrity in
brain regions sensitive to aging. The proposed studies, in their entirety, will fill an important gap in our
knowledge about the comparative biology of aging and cognition in squirrel monkeys and will also create an
invaluable nonhuman primate resource for future use preclinical studies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10281406
- **Project number:** 3P40OD010938-41S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** LAWRENCE E Williams
- **Activity code:** P40 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $376,415
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 1997-04-01 → 2025-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10281406

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10281406, Squirrel Monkey Breeding and Research Resource - Administrative Supplement (Cognitive Development) (3P40OD010938-41S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10281406. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*