Scott Jack T, Mendivez Vasquez Bruno L, Stewart Brian J, Panacheril Dylan D, Rajit Darren K J, Fan Angela Y, Bourne James A
Section on Cellular and Cognitive Neurodevelopment, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.
Cell Rep Methods. 2025 May 19;5(5):101034. doi: 10.1016/j.crmeth.2025.101034. Epub 2025 May 7.
Nonhuman primates (NHPs) are pivotal for unlocking the complexities of human cognition, yet traditional cognitive studies remain constrained to specialized laboratories. To address this gap, we present CalliCog: an open-source, scalable in-cage platform tailored for experiments in small freely behaving primate species such as the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus). CalliCog includes modular operant chambers that operate autonomously and integrate seamlessly with home cages, eliminating human intervention. Our results showcase the power of CalliCog to train experimentally naive marmosets in touchscreen-based cognitive tasks. Across two independent facilities, marmosets achieved touchscreen proficiency within 2 weeks and successfully completed tasks probing behavioral flexibility and working memory. Moreover, CalliCog enabled precise synchronization of behavioral data with electrocorticography (ECoG) recordings from freely moving animals, opening new frontiers for neurobehavioral research. By making CalliCog openly accessible, we aim to democratize cognitive experimentation with small NHPs, narrowing the translational gap between preclinical models and human cognition.
非人灵长类动物（NHPs）对于揭示人类认知的复杂性至关重要，但传统的认知研究仍局限于专业实验室。为了弥补这一差距，我们推出了CalliCog：一个开源的、可扩展的笼内平台，专为在诸如普通狨猴（Callithrix jacchus）等小型自由活动的灵长类物种中进行实验而设计。CalliCog包括模块化的操作性实验箱，这些实验箱可自主运行并与饲养笼无缝集成，消除了人为干预。我们的结果展示了CalliCog在基于触摸屏的认知任务中训练从未接受过实验训练的狨猴的能力。在两个独立的设施中，狨猴在两周内就掌握了触摸屏操作，并成功完成了探索行为灵活性和工作记忆的任务。此外，CalliCog能够将行为数据与自由活动动物的皮层脑电图（ECoG）记录精确同步，为神经行为研究开辟了新的领域。通过公开提供CalliCog，我们旨在使小型非人灵长类动物的认知实验更加普及，缩小临床前模型与人类认知之间的转化差距。
