Fairbanks L A, Fontenot M B, Phillips-Conroy J E, Jolly C J, Kaplan J R, Mann J J
Neuropsychiatric Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA.
Brain Behav Evol. 1999 May-Jun;53(5-6):305-12. doi: 10.1159/000006601.
Brain monoaminergic activity has been associated with behaviors, such as impulsive risk-taking, that tend to peak during adolescence in humans and nonhuman primates. This study was designed to assess natural variation in monoamine neurotransmitter metabolism in relation to age and behavioral impulsivity in grivet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops aethiops) living in their native habitat and subject to natural ecological pressures. Cisternal cerebrospinal fluid, collected from 22 animals living in the Awash National Park, Ethiopia, was assayed for the major metabolites of serotonin (5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, 5-HIAA), dopamine (homovanillic acid, HVA) and norepinephrine (3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol, MHPG). Concentrations of HVA declined significantly from one year of age to older adulthood. Further, a significant curvilinear relationship was identified between age and the 5-HIAA/HVA ratio, with the trough coinciding with the period of adolescence. Finally, behavioral impulsivity, as measured by re-entering baited traps a second time after the animal had already been captured and sampled for CSF, was related to lower levels of MHPG. The results suggest that normal variation in central monoaminergic activity may have functional consequences in wild populations.
大脑单胺能活性与冲动冒险等行为有关，这些行为在人类和非人类灵长类动物的青春期往往会达到峰值。本研究旨在评估生活在原生栖息地并承受自然生态压力的灰腹长尾猴（Cercopithecus aethiops aethiops）中，单胺神经递质代谢与年龄和行为冲动性之间的自然变异。对从埃塞俄比亚阿瓦什国家公园的22只动物采集的脑池脑脊液进行检测，分析血清素（5-羟吲哚乙酸，5-HIAA）、多巴胺（高香草酸，HVA）和去甲肾上腺素（3-甲氧基-4-羟基苯乙二醇，MHPG）的主要代谢产物。从一岁到成年后期，HVA的浓度显著下降。此外，年龄与5-HIAA/HVA比值之间存在显著的曲线关系，最低点与青春期重合。最后，通过在动物已经被捕获并采集脑脊液样本后再次进入有诱饵的陷阱来衡量的行为冲动性，与较低水平的MHPG有关。结果表明，中枢单胺能活性的正常变异可能对野生种群产生功能影响。
