Behavioral Effects of Moderate Alcohol Consumption on Non- human Primates Adapted from Shively, C., Grant, K., Register, T. (2002) Effects of long-term moderate alcohol consumption on agonistic and affiliative behavior of socially housed female cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). Psychopharmacology 165:1-8.

Introduction Alcohol affects behavior Most studies done on extreme drinking 82% of alcohol users in USA are light to moderate drinkers Many animals used to determine effects

Animals Used in Alcohol Studies Primates – Cynomolgus Monkeys, Vervet Monkeys Rodents – rats, mice People

Macaca fascicularis are Alright Long-tailed macaque, crab-eating monkey, Java monkey, cynomolgus monkey Primates closely related Will drink voluntarily –84% drank 90% of the time (Shively 2002) Drunk monkeys are funny

Hypothesis? None! Plan: Get monkeys drunk; watch the fun. –See which behaviors are affected by moderate alcohol consumption.

Methods 51 ♀ cynomolgus monkeys (8-14 y/o) –2 died  Groups of 5 (25 control, 24 EtOH) Medium excess Each given ovariectomy 8-month baseline/26-month treatment –last 3 months of baseline, voluntary consumption “taught”

Methods – The Good Stuff Alcohol given in vehicle Maltose-dextrin for control 2% for two weeks; 4% for eight weeks Raised to 0.5g/kg or 2 drinks/day for exp Dosing at for 5 days/week Not voluntary → NG tube

Behaviors Viewed Aggression and Submission –Mild Aggression: stare, open mouth, chase, displace –Contact Aggression: Affiliation - Together (In Contact and Close), Grooming, Alone “Extragroup vigilance” – looking into other cages Stereotypic behavior – at least 3 times –Self: hair plucking, etc. –Environment: pacing/locomotion BIAS BY EXPERIMENTERS!

Results – Aggression/Submission Table 1 “Total aggression and total submission (frequency/h)” (Shively 2002) Total aggression, total submission, and contact aggression frequencies separated based on times of observation, treatment groups and social rankings. An increase in contact aggression is seen for alcohol treated monkeys.

Results - Aggression Figure 2 “Histogram of extreme aggression involving physical contact (mean and SEM of the frequency/h)” (Shively 2002) Frequency of contact aggression of each individual, separated into social rankings and treatment groups. Eight of the nine primates seen exhibiting unusually high aggression were alcohol treated. Figure 1 “Extreme aggression involving physical contact (mean and SEM of the frequency/h)” (Shively 2002) Frequency of contact aggression averaged, separated into treatment groups. An increase in contact aggression is seen for alcohol treated monkeys.

Results - Affiliation Table 2 “Affiliation (percent of time)” (Shively 2002) Frequencies of interactions between monkeys separated into acts, treatment groups, and social rankings. Time spent sitting together, in closeness or in contact decreased as a result of alcohol. Grooming time was not affected by alcohol. Time spent alone increased with alcohol treatment.

Results - Other Table 3 “Extragroup vigilance and behavioral pathology (frequency/h)” (Shively 2002) Frequencies of “extragroup vigilance” and stereotypic behavior, separated into behavior to self and environment, treatment groups, and social rankings. Alcohol increased extragroup vigilance, and stereotypic behavior to self in subordinates.

Discussion Increase in contact aggression –High SD for others (and throughout) 8/9 “above average” aggression EtOH –More susceptibility to violence w/ EtOH (1/3)

Discussion Decrease in sitting together (closeness and in contact) –Mean drunks! Increase in time alone – duh!

Discussion Increase in “extragroup vigilance” –Curiousity, more subordinates, leave to new group Increase in behavior to self in subordinates –Only 1h after dosing Dosing stressing animals?

BOO! Get off the stage! No account for stress – how it affects who Withdrawal –after 3 days of dosing + 1 w/o (Ervin 1990) –withdrawn monkey ripped bottle out of wall Rearing –affects predisposition to EtOH (Grant 2003)

Alright, you can stay. Animals grouped together –Drink more alone (Ervin 1990) –Ataxia and unconsciousness Oviarectomy –Hormonal shift in behavior –EtOH affects cycle (Dees 2000)

More Drunk Monkeys “…[L]arger social groups, with increased living quarters, and opportunities to engage in other behaviors” (Shively 2002) ♂ - no shift in hormones

References Badygin, E. et al. (2003) Chronic ethanol exposure alters presynaptic dopamine function in the striatum of monkeys: a preliminary study. Synapse 50: Dees, W. et al. (2000) Alcohol ingestion inhibits the increased secretion of puberty-related hormones in the developing female rhesus monkey. Endocrinology 141: Ervin, F. et al. (1990) Voluntary consumption of beverage alcohol by vervet monkeys: population screening, descriptive behavior and biochemical measures. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior 36: Grant, K., Bennett, A. (2003) Advances in nonhuman primate alcohol abuse and alcoholism research. Pharmacology and Therapeutics 100: Heinz, A. et al. (1998) In vivo association between alcohol intoxication, aggression and serotonin transporter availability in nonhuman primates. American Journal of Psychiatry 155: Higley, J., Bennett, A. Central nervous system serotonin and personality as variables contributing to excessive alcohol consumption in non-human primates. Alcohol and Alcoholism 34: Shively, C., Grant, K., Register, T. (2002) Effects of long-term moderate alcohol consumption on agonistic and affiliative behavior of socially housed female cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). Psychopharmacology 165:1-8.

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