Quantification of Early Gait Development: Expanding the Application of Catwalk Technology to an Infant Rhesus Macaque Model

Abstract

BackgroundUnderstanding gait development is essential for identifying motor impairments in neurodevelopmental disorders. Defining typical gait development in a rhesus macaque model is critical prior to characterizing abnormal gait. The goal of this study was to 1) explore the feasibility of using the Noldus Catwalk to assess gait in infant rhesus macaques and 2) provide preliminary normative data of gait development during the first month of life. New methodThe Noldus Catwalk was used to assess gait speed, dynamic and static paw measurements, and interlimb coordination in twelve infant rhesus macaques at 14, 21, and 28 days of age. All macaque runs were labeled as a diagonal or non-diagonal walking pattern. ResultsInfant rhesus macaques primarily used a diagonal (mature) walking pattern as early as 14 days of life. Ten infant rhesus macaques (83.3%) were able to successfully walk across the Noldus Catwalk at 28 days of life. Limited differences in gait parameters were observed between timepoints because of the variability within the group at 14, 21, and 28 days. Comparison with existing methods: No prior gait analysis system has been used to provide objective quantification of gait parameters for infant macaques. ConclusionsThe Catwalk system can be utilized to quantify gait in infant rhesus macaques less than 28 days old. Future applications to infant rhesus macaques could provide a better understanding of gait development and early differences within various neurodevelopmental disorders. Highlights- Infant rhesus macaque gait parameters can successfully be captured by the Catwalk - At 14 days of life, macaques were consistently using a diagonal walking pattern - Limited developmental change occurs in gait parameters over the first month of life - Infant macaque gait parameters had high within group variability at each timepoint Graphical abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=190 HEIGHT=200 SRC="FIGDIR/small/516450v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (41K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@6185edorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@9fa472org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@e54919org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@12231cc_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG Note: Brown and grey-colored macaques were created in biorender