Positive reinforcement training and research

Biomedical research is necessary to advance therapeutics and interventions that reduce morbidity and mortality as well as enhance quality of life (QOL). Novel technologies that provide alternatives to certain conventional animal models, have evolved and more are forthcoming, but successful advancement of basic research to the clinical patient is still heavily reliant on carefully selected, valid animal models to evaluate specific aspects of the target disease or therapeutic (Graham and Prescott 2015). Validity in animal models is multifactorial, and the scientific community has been charged with improving the design, conduct, and analysis of in vivo research, including giving greater emphasis to the specific interplay between animal welfare and scientific outcomes as it relates to construct validity of animal models (Bailoo et al. 2014; Collins and Tabak 2014). Though nonhuman primates (NHPs) represent the smallest fraction of animals used in biomedical research (<1%), they play a predominant role in translational investigations (Carlsson et al. 2004). NHPs have been used to accurately model certain age-associated diseases, behavior, immune-mediated diseases or processes, infectious diseases, neurological diseases, reproductive biology, and pharmacologic safety (Price et al. 1991; Kennedy et al. 1997; Lane 2000; Brok et al. 2001; Betarbet et al. 2002; Preston and de Waal 2002; Barr et al. 2003; Brosnan and de Waal 2003; Buse et al. 2003; Coffman and Hessel 2005; Buckley et al. 2011; Messaoudi et al. 2011; Nout et al. 2012; Verdier et al. 2015). The key similarities in biological complexity, immune response, physiology, and behavioral repertoire that exist between humans and NHPs, because of their close phylogenetic relationship, enable experiments that are otherwise impossible with other species or nonanimal alternatives (Phillips et al. 2014). These similarities introduce a much higher degree of complexity in husbandry and clinical care. NHPs develop rich social relationships, and their environments must be designed with sufficient ingenuity to elicit a diverse behavioral repertoire (Novak and Suomi 1991; Schapiro and Bloomsmith 1994, 1995; Schapiro 2002; Lutz and Novak 2005; Olsson and Westlund 2007). 188The clinical management of a highly representative NHP model can actually be as sophisticated as its human counterparts and often involves substantial handling, especially in overt disease models (Graham and Schuurman 2015).