Journal: bioRxiv
Article Title: Motor sequence analysis as a sensitive biomarker of dopaminergic degeneration in a non-human primate model of parkinsonism
doi: 10.64898/2026.04.23.720333
Figure Lengend Snippet: Exploratory association between behavioral impairment and nigrostriatal degeneration. Scatter plots (panels A–C) show the linear regression between SN tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive cell loss (x-axis; %) and baseline-normalized change in behavioral metrics (y-axis; %), individually for each subject. Regression lines (red dashed), 95% confidence intervals (pink shading), R² values, and p-values are displayed within each panel. Given the small sample size (n = 4), analyses are strictly exploratory; effect sizes and directional consistency rather than statistical significance are the primary interpretive focus. (A) Staircase Impairment: baseline-normalized change in reward retrieval success rate on the dominant side (R² = 0.48, p = 0.307). A moderate, non-significant negative trend suggests that greater TH loss is associated with greater staircase impairment, although the relationship is not linear across the concentration range tested. (B) Tube Asymmetry: baseline-normalized change in forelimb use asymmetry between the dominant and non-dominant sides (R² = 0.01, p = 0.889). No meaningful linear association was observed between TH loss and tube asymmetry, consistent with the interpretation that forelimb asymmetry reflects individual compensatory strategies rather than degeneration severity per se. (C) Strategy Chaoticity (Brinkman board deviation variability): baseline-normalized change in session-level deviation variance (R² = 0.18, p = 0.571). The absence of a clear linear relationship is consistent with the heterogeneous nature of motor sequence reorganization across subjects, particularly given BEG HP10’s high pre-lesion baseline variability. (D) Animal-level integrated summary heatmap. Each row represents one subject (AMBEN = BEN HP4; AMBEG = BEG HP10; AOR = AOR HP40; AMAQX = SHAM); each column represents one metric: SN TH Loss (%), Staircase Impairment (baseline-normalized change %), Tube Asymmetry (baseline-normalized change %), and Strategy Chaoticity/Variability (baseline-normalized change %). Color scale reflects the magnitude of each value (darker red = higher absolute value; lighter yellow = values near zero or negative change). Numerical values are displayed within cells. Negative values in behavioral metrics indicate maintained or improved performance relative to baseline, potentially reflecting motor learning, task adaptation, or compensatory dopaminergic upregulation. The heatmap is intended as a qualitative, multidimensional overview to support hypothesis generation rather than statistical inference.
Article Snippet: These include: raw and session-level Brinkman board performance metrics (brinkman_session_metrics.xlsx), deviation variance summary statistics for the Brinkman board sequence analysis (brinkman_deviation_variance_summary.csv), Wilcoxon test results for Brinkman board sequence variability comparisons (brinkman_variability_wilcoxon_summary.xlsx), Brinkman board retrieval sequence matrices used to generate heatmap visualizations (brinkman_heatmap_matrices.xlsx), Wilcoxon test results for Staircase test parameters (staircase_wilcoxon_results.csv), and Wilcoxon test results for Tube test parameters (tube_wilcoxon_summary.csv).
Techniques: Concentration Assay, Sequencing