Abigail Setlik1, Rishabh Choudhary1, Lauren Bailey1, Takeshi Murai1, Lauren Mongeau1, Emily Rothwell2, Afonso Silva2, Stacey J. Sukoff Rizzo1,2

Emerging data indicate that impairments in motor function and alterations in sleep may precede Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology and related cognitive decline by several years. The present studies investigated early changes in activity and circadian patterns in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) with genetic mutations in the PSEN1 gene which confers early onset AD in humans. Nanowatches (Camntech LTD) were attached to the collars of freely moving male (n=16) and female (n=22) marmosets (aged 1-6 yrs). Individuals were evaluated longitudinally over up to a 3-year period which revealed behavioral changes with aging and disease progression measure by AD related biomarkers. Ongoing studies continue to investigate the earliest behavioral changes associated with genetic risk for AD as a functional prodromal biomarker to reveal the earliest activity changes that precede disease and cognitive decline.

1Aging Institute, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, 2Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA