The influence of excitotoxic basal ganglia lesions on motor performance inthe common marmoset

Huntington's disease is a genetically inherited neurodegenerative disorder for which currently there is no effective treatment or cure. In order to ga uge the potential therapeutic benefits of neuroprotective or restorative tr eatments, it is necessary to create an animal model that is associated with readily measurable and long-lasting functional impairments. The undifferen tiated neostriatum and limited behavioural repertoire of rodents have led t o the extension of our investigations into the common marmoset, We have use d quinolinic acid to create unilateral excitotoxic lesions of the caudate n ucleus or the putamen in this small non-human primate, Following rigorous i nvestigation of each monkey on a battery of behavioural tests, we found tha t the unilateral putamen lesion mas associated with a contralateral motor i mpairment that persisted for at least 9 months and withstood repeated testi ng, However, the unilateral caudate nucleus lesion did not appear to be ass ociated with any detectable motor deficit. The stability and the reproducib ility of the unilateral putamen lesion in the marmoset provide a suitable t ool for the investigation of potential treatments for neurodegenerative dis orders that attack this region of the brain.