Assessment of motor behavior using a video system and a clinical rating scale in parkinsonian monkeys lesioned by MPTP

The best current model of Parkinson's disease is the primate treated with 1 -methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). Quantification of anima l movement is important for the study of severity of parkinsonian syndrome induced by MPTP and response to drug treatments. Both require clinical rati ng scales that measure motor behavior with well-defined objective items. Ho wever, evaluations using these scales depend on the observer scoring the di fferent items, according to his/her experience. The video image analyzer sy stem, which produces an activity curve in correlation with the visual study of animal motor behavior, offers an automatic evaluation method that is ob server-independent and reproducible. Using such an system we defined items correlated with those used in clinical rating scales that are sensitive to animal motor changes, decrease in movements with MPTP intoxication and alle viation afforded by levodopa: global locomotor activity and specific activi ties (climbing, social interactions, eating and drinking behaviors). (C) 20 01 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.