National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

The core mission of National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) is twofold. First, NINDS seeks fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system. Second, NINDS aims to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological diseases. In support of its mission, NINDS performs and funds basic, translational, and clinical neuroscience research on more than 600 neurological diseases, including genetic diseases (e.g. Huntington’s disease; muscular dystrophy), developmental disorders (e.g. cerebral palsy), neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. Parkinson’s disease; Alzheimer’s disease; multiple sclerosis), metabolic diseases (e.g. Gaucher’s disease), cerebrovascular diseases (e.g. stroke; vascular dementia), trauma (e.g. spinal cord and head injury), convulsive disorders (e.g. epilepsy), infectious diseases (e.g. AIDS dementia) and brain tumors. Common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) offer unique, powerful advantages to both components of the NINDS mission. In support of the first component, marmosets are particularly well suited for neuroanatomical and functional brain studies, as their brains retain the typical anatomical and functional organization of the primate brain. A major advantage is that the marmoset is a lissencephalic primate, which greatly facilitates the mapping of functional brain areas by neuroimaging techniques, such as fMRI and optical imaging, as well as by electrophysiology, with high spatial resolution. In support of the second component, marmosets are excellent models of neurological disorders. Unlike rodents, marmosets are outbred and every individual is genetically different. Further, the marmoset brain has a gray-to-white matter ratio comparable to humans, which strongly facilitates modeling diseases such as multiple sclerosis and small vessel disease. The species also exhibits the breadth of cognitive sophistication that distinguishes primates from other taxonomic groups. Finally, geneedited marmosets can be generated with an intergeneration time and establishment of transgenic lines 2-3 times faster than other primate species, which makes marmosets be the ideal primate species for the development of genetically engineered lines. For all of the above reasons, marmosets are poised to be a central player to advance the core mission of the NINDS.