一种计算机化设备，旨在自动分配、测量和记录恒河猴社会群体中个体成员的酒精摄入量：社会笼养和单笼饲养条件下类似特质的饮酒行为。

A computerized apparatus designed to automatically dispense, measure, and record alcohol consumption by individual members of a rhesus macaque social group: trait-like drinking across social- and single-cage conditions.

作者信息

Flory G S, Chen S A, Woltz L A, Magleby S, Higley J D

机构信息

1301 MSRB III, Department of Pharmacology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0632, USA.

出版信息

Methods. 2006 Mar;38(3):178-84. doi: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2005.12.002.

DOI:10.1016/j.ymeth.2005.12.002

PMID:16458017

Abstract

BACKGROUND

The present study tested the validity of an automated ethanol dispensing apparatus that is capable of identifying individual monkeys and precisely measuring their levels of ethanol consumption while living in a social group, and assessed individual subjects' level of consumption when alone and in social groups.

METHODS

In Experiment 1, 21 rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) were given access for 1-h each day to the dispensing apparatus, which contained an aspartame-sweetened 8.4% (v/v) ethanol solution. Measurements of blood ethanol concentrations were taken for each subject and compared with the level of consumption recorded by the apparatus for those subjects. To examine the possibility that competition among the animals limited their access to the dispensing unit, in Experiment 2, 10 of the subjects used in Experiment 1 were singly housed to allow them to drink without interference from other monkeys. A correlation was then performed to assess the interindividual relationship between the amount of ethanol consumed in these two housing conditions.

RESULTS

In Experiment 1, the volume of solution measured and recorded by the apparatus correlated positively with the true volume dispensed. Furthermore, the volume of solution reported by the computer to have been consumed by an individual subject correlated positively with blood ethanol concentrations. In Experiment 2, the volume of ethanol consumed by individual subjects in single cages correlated positively with their consumption in the social group.

CONCLUSIONS

The apparatus accurately identified and measured individual patterns of ethanol consumption among socially housed animals. Additionally, individual differences in ethanol consumption remained stable across settings, as shown by the strong positive correlation between drinking in a social setting versus drinking alone. This finding may thus reflect an individual's constitutional proclivity to consume alcohol.

摘要

背景

本研究测试了一种自动乙醇分配装置的有效性，该装置能够识别个体猴子，并在其生活在社会群体中时精确测量它们的乙醇摄入量，同时评估个体受试者单独和在社会群体中的消费水平。

方法

在实验1中，21只恒河猴（猕猴）每天有1小时可使用该分配装置，装置中含有一种用阿斯巴甜增甜的8.4%（v/v）乙醇溶液。对每个受试者进行血液乙醇浓度测量，并与该装置记录的这些受试者的消费水平进行比较。为了研究动物之间的竞争是否限制了它们使用分配装置的机会，在实验2中，将实验1中的10只受试者单独饲养，以使它们能够不受其他猴子干扰地饮用。然后进行相关性分析，以评估这两种饲养条件下乙醇摄入量之间的个体间关系。