Concurrent monitoring of EEG and performance in the common marmoset: a methodological approach.

A model has been developed in a nonhuman primate, the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), which should enable the study of long term effects of compounds with potentially psychoactive properties. The technique facilitates concurrent monitoring of both behavioral and electrophysiological parameters while animals remain in their home cages. Subjects were trained to perform tests from a neuropsychological test battery (The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery, CANTAB) in which they learned to discriminate between pairs of stimuli presented on a touch sensitive computer screen. Single channel cortical electroencephalography (EEG) by radiotelemetry was simultaneously recorded while behavioral testing took place.