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Aging and physical mobility in group-housed Old World monkeys

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Abstract

While indices of physical mobility such as gait speed are significant predictors of future morbidity/mortality in the elderly, mechanisms of these relationships are not understood. Relevant animal models of aging and physical mobility are needed to study these relationships. The goal of this study was to develop measures of physical mobility including activity levels and gait speed in Old World monkeys which vary with age in adults. Locomotor behaviors of 21 old (\( \overline x \) = 20 yoa) and 24 young (\( \overline x \) = 9 yoa) socially housed adult females of three species were recorded using focal sample and ad libitum behavior observation methods. Self-motivated walking speed was 17% slower in older than younger adults. Likewise, young adults climbed more frequently than older adults. Leaping and jumping were more common, on average, in young adults, but this difference did not reach significance. Overall activity levels did not vary significantly by age, and there were no significant age by species interactions in any of these behaviors. Of all the behaviors evaluated, walking speed measured in a simple and inexpensive manner appeared most sensitive to age and has the added feature of being least affected by differences in housing characteristics. Thus, walking speed may be a useful indicator of decline in physical mobility in nonhuman primate models of aging.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Pepper Older Americans for Independence Center (P30 AG21332), the Vervet Research Colony (P40 RR019963), R01 AA013973 and intramural grants from the Translational Science Institute and the Primate Center of Wake Forest School of Medicine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Section on Comparative Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157-1040, USA

    Carol A. Shively & Thomas C. Register

  2. Integrative Neuroscience Graduate Program, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, USA

    Stephanie L. Willard

  3. Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, USA

    Allyson J. Bennett & Peter J. Pierre

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Denver, School of Medicine, Denver, USA

    Mark L. Laudenslager

  5. Department of Medicine, Section on Cardiology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, USA

    Dalane W. Kitzman

  6. Department of Neurology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, USA

    Martin K. Childers

  7. Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, USA

    Robert W. Grange

  8. Sticht Center on Aging, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, USA

    Stephen B. Kritchevsky

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  1. Carol A. Shively
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  2. Stephanie L. Willard
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Correspondence to Carol A. Shively.

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Shively, C.A., Willard, S.L., Register, T.C. et al. Aging and physical mobility in group-housed Old World monkeys. AGE 34, 1123–1131 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-011-9350-1

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