Automated video analysis of age-related motor deficits in monkeys using EthoVision

• Published in: Neurobiology of aging 2006-10, Vol.27 (10), p.1477-1483
• Main Authors: Walton, Ashley, Branham, Amy, Gash, Don M., Grondin, Richard
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aging; Animals; Artificial Intelligence; Female; Gait Disorders, Neurologic - diagnosis; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted - methods; Locomotion; Macaca mulatta; Motor functions; Movement Disorders - diagnosis; Nonhuman primates; Pattern Recognition, Automated - methods; Photography - methods; Primates; Rhesus; Task Performance and Analysis; Video Recording - methods; Video-tracking
• ISSN: 0197-4580; 1558-1497
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2005.08.003

Previous studies comparing age-related changes in locomotor function in nonhuman primates have generally relied on subjective human observations or rudimentary infrared motion sensors. Here, we used the automated video-tracking system EthoVision to objectively quantify locomotor activity in 6 young, 6 middle-aged and 12 aged female rhesus monkeys. The video records were analyzed for distance traveled, movement speed and vertical activity. Our results showed that the young monkeys (4.9 ± 0.1 years old) traveled twice the distance and moved 48% faster than the middle-aged monkeys (15.7 ± 0.5 years old), and traveled thrice the distance and moved 67% faster than the aged monkeys (26.3 ± 0.9 years old). In addition, young monkeys were vertically more active (20/60 min) than both the middle-aged (7/60 min) and the aged (1/60 min) monkeys. Furthermore, the locomotor performance of the individual animals significantly correlated with increasing age for all three measures. We conclude that EthoVision is a reliable and objective tracking method for detecting age-related differences in locomotor movements in rhesus macaques, and possibly in humans.