Our Research Aims To:
Better understand Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
More than 6 million Americans live with Alzheimer’s disease. [Alz.org]. Cases will double by 2050 if no cure is found. Nonhuman primates like marmosets are key to better understand the disease and finding effective treatments. The marmoset is an ideal model for AD for several reasons: marmosets have shorter lifespans, naturally develop human-like neuropathology with age and are behaviorally and neuroanatomically similar to humans.
Characterize sex differences in cognitive aging.
Human aging is associated with a significant decline in cognitive functioning. What’s more, sex and gender differences are observed in the prevalence of AD and manifestation of the disease, with women being disproportionately affected [Alz.org]. It is critical to understand the risk factors underlying this sex difference. We aim to better understand this by examining cognitive sex differences in the marmoset.
Test new treatments for people with breast cancers.
Estrogens are synthesized by the conversion of testosterone through the enzyme aromatase. To prevent this conversion, women with estrogen receptor-dependent breast cancers are often given aromatase inhibitors as an adjuvant therapy for many years. However, these drugs are associated with side effects like hot flashes, sleep problems and memory deficits. Our research aims to understand these side effects and find treatments to improve the quality of life for cancer patients.
Read our latest research paper on this topic.
A Model for Alzheimer’s Disease
Marmosets show an age-related increase in beta amyloid deposition, tau abnormalities and dystrophic microglia in the brain, suggesting that they are a good model for studying the natural progression of AD-like neuropathology with age.
Sex Differences in Cognitive Aging
Do males and females follow different trajectories of cognitive aging? Click here to learn more about our longitudinal studies assessing age-related cognitive decline in common marmosets.
Women’s Health
How do ovarian hormones affect sleep, cognitive function and thermoregulation? Click below to learn more about how we are developing a marmoset model for menopausal symptoms that will help us understand the potential relationships between sleep disturbances, hot flashes and cognitive impairment induced by estrogen loss.
About the Common Marmoset
The marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is a small New World primate with highly developed cognitive abilities. This small-bodied (300 - 500 grams) primate is ideally suited for longitudinal studies of aging due to their easy handling, naturally short life span (~10 years) and age-related changes which are similar to humans.
We fully adhere to the Principles for the Ethical Treatment of Nonhuman Primates from the American Society of Primatologists.
All of our animals are cared for in accordance with the guidelines of the US National Research Council’s Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, the US Public Health Service’s Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, and the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. The studies were approved by the University of Massachusetts Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).
Recent Papers
2022-2023
Pletzer, B., Comasco, E., Hidalgo-Lopez, E., Lacreuse, A., & Derntl, B. (2023). Editorial: Effects of hormonal contraceptives on the brain. Frontiers in endocrinology, 14, 1129203. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2023.1129203.
Freire-Cobo, C., Rothwell, E.S., Varghese, M., Janssen, G.M.W., Edwards, M.E., Lacreuse, A. and Hof, P.R. (2023). Neuronal vulnerability to brain aging and neurodegeneration in cognitively impaired marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus). Neurobiology of Aging.
Edwards, M., Lam., S., Ranjan, R., Pereira, M., Babbitt, C., Lacreuse, A. (2023). Letrozole treatment alters hippocampal gene expression in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). Hormones and Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2022.105281
Golub, E. M., Conner, B., Edwards, M., Gillis, L., & Lacreuse, A. (2022). Potential trade-off between olfactory and visual discrimination learning in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus): Implications for the assessment of age-related cognitive decline. American Journal of Primatology, 84, e23427. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23427.
Rothwell, E.S., Workman, K.P., Wang, D. & Lacreuse, A. (2022). Sex differences in cognitive aging: a 4-year longitudinal study in marmosets. Neurobiology of Aging. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.09.015
2020 - 2021
Shively, C.A., Lacreuse, A., Frye, B., Rothwell, E.S. and Moro, M. (2021). Nonhuman Primates at the Intersection of Aging Biology, Chronic Disease, and Health: an Introduction to the American Journal of Primatology Special Issue on Aging, Cognitive Decline, and Neuropathology in Nonhuman Primates. American Journal of Primatology. e23309. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23309 (Editorial).
Freire-Cobo, C., Edler, M. K., Varghese, M., Munger, E., Laffey, J., Raia, S., In, S. S., Wicinski, B., Medalla, M., Perez, S. E., Mufson, E. J., Erwin, J. M., Guevara, E. E., Sherwood, C. C., Luebke, J. I., Lacreuse, A., Raghanti, M. A., & Hof, P. R. (2021). Comparative neuropathology in aging primates: A perspective. American Journal of Primatology, e23299. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23299.
Rothwell, E.S., Freire-Cobo, C., Varghese, M., Edwards, M., Janssen W.G. M., Hof, P.R. & Lacreuse, A. (2021). The marmoset as an important primate model for longitudinal studies of neurocognitive aging. American Journal of Primatology, e23271. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.2327.
Lacreuse A, Raz N, Schmidtke D, Hopkins WD, Herndon JG. Age-related decline in executive function as a hallmark of cognitive ageing in primates: an overview of cognitive and neurobiological studies. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2020 Nov 9;375(1811):20190618. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0618. Epub 2020 Sep 21. PubMed PMID: 32951543; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7540957.
Nephew BC, Febo M, Cali R, Workman KP, Payne L, Moore CM, King JA, Lacreuse A. Robustness of sex-differences in functional connectivity over time in middle-aged marmosets. Sci Rep. 2020 Oct 6;10(1):16647. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-73811-9. PubMed PMID: 33024242; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7538565.
2018 -2019
Workman, K.P. Healey, B., Carlotto, A. and Lacreuse, A. (2019). One-year change in cognitive flexibility and fine motor function in middle-aged male and female marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). American Journal of Primatology, 81, 2, e22924.
LaClair M, Febo M, Nephew B, Gervais NJ, Poirier G, Workman K, Chumachenko S, Payne L, Moore MC, King JA & Lacreuse, A. (2019). Sex differences in cognitive flexibility and resting brain networks in middle-aged marmosets. eneuro:ENEURO.0154-19.2019.
Vaughan, E, Le, A, Casey, M, Workman, K & Lacreuse, A (2019). Baseline cortisol levels and social behavior differ as a function of handedness in marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). American Journal of Primatology. e23057.
Gervais, N. J., Remage-Healey, L., Starrett, J. R., Pollak, D. J., Mong, J. A., & Lacreuse, A. (2019). Adverse effects of aromatase inhibition on the brain and behavior in a non-human primate. J Neurosci. doi: 10.1523/jneurosci.0353-18.2018
Lacreuse, A., Moore, C. M., LaClair, M., Payne, L., & King, J. A. (2018). Glutamine/Glutamate (Glx) concentration in prefrontal cortex predicts reversal learning performance in the marmoset. Behav Brain Res,
Lacreuse A, Parr L, Chennareddi L, Herndon JG. Age-related decline in cognitive flexibility in female chimpanzees. Neurobiol Aging. 2018 Dec;72:83-88. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2018.08.018. Epub 2018 Aug 24. PubMed PMID: 30237074; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6215734.
2016 - 2017
Gervais, N. J., Viechweg, S. S., Mong, J. A., & Lacreuse, A. (2016). The middle-aged ovariectomized marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) as a model of menopausal symptoms: Preliminary evidence. Neuroscience, 337, 1-8.
Gervais, N. J., Mong, J. A., & Lacreuse, A. (2017). Ovarian hormones, sleep and cognition across the adult female lifespan: An integrated perspective. Front Neuroendocrinol, 47, 134-153.
Lacreuse A, Gullstrand J, Fagot J. Sex differences in inhibitory control in socially-housed baboons (Papio papio). Behav Brain Res. 2016 Oct 1;312:231-7. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.06.032. Epub 2016 Jun 16. PubMed PMID: 27321783.
LaClair M, Lacreuse A. Reversal learning in gonadectomized marmosets with and without hormone replacement: are males more sensitive to punishment?. Anim Cogn. 2016 May;19(3):619-30. doi: 10.1007/s10071-016-0966-5. Epub 2016 Feb 24. PubMed PMID: 26909674; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4852393.