More Horrific Experiments at Oxford UniversityA shocking new dossier published by Animal Aid has revealed the reality of primate experiments in Britain today. Animal Aid have kindly allowed SPEAK to publish examples of the research they have undertaken into the most meaningless, horrific and barbaric primate experiments that have taken place recently at Oxford University. If nothing else, it clearly illustrates the need to stop Oxford University from abusing even greater numbers of animals if the new lab is completed and highlights just why SPEAK will never stop its campaign against the university until animal abuse is halted once and for all. Most of the experiments are clearly being done just to satisfy the morbid curiosity of people that have the audacity to call themselves scientists. At SPEAK we don’t believe that vivisectors should be seen as belonging to the scientific community, they are nothing more than charlatans - people masquerading as scientists - fraudsters if you like, who have beguiled people into believing that what they do is a "necessary evil"; men and women who have contributed nothing to furthering human knowledge; if anything people that are responsible for holding up medical progress. Read the examples below and then join us in our fight to stop these atrocities from taking place. Oxford: Brain damage in monkeys increases their fear of toy snakes A team of researchers in the Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford University investigated the effects of brain damage on the social behaviour of nine macaque monkeys. The monkeys were divided into three groups – each having different parts of their brains surgically damaged. Once the animals had regained consciousness, they were studied to see how they responded to various threatening situations. This included being exposed to rubber snakes and the stares of unfamiliar human faces. Similar previous experiments conducted by the same researchers had shown that the greater the brain damage, the less sociable the monkeys became with one another. The team did not reveal the fate of the monkeys after the experiment. In conclusion, the researchers made a tacit admission about the lack of relevance of their own research. They stated that the equivalent tests given to human subjects (for which non-invasive scanning equipment was used) were considerably more complex than those possible in monkeys. Rudebeck M, Buckley MJ, Walton ME, Rushworth MFS. Science 2006; 313:1310-1312. ‘A role for the macaque anterior cingulate gyrus in social valuation.’ Oxford, Cambridge and Newcastle: Brain-damaged monkeys forced to watch fish Scientists from the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Newcastle and the University of Western Ontario (Canada) teamed up to conduct a long-term study of brain behaviour in two male macaque monkeys. Both monkeys underwent brain surgery to implant electrodes, which recorded brain activity. The implant was held in place by stainless steel screws, a head bolt and dental cement. The monkeys were seated in a sound-proof room, in a purpose-built ‘primate chair’ – an apparatus that restricts body movement. During each experimental session, the restrained monkey was exposed to a stream of pictures. His task was to hold his stare until he saw a fish. All of the experimental brain and eye recordings were computer-controlled, as was the delivery of a juice reward. An incorrect stare or no response on the part of the monkeys resulted in no reward being given. In all, the monkeys underwent 67 experimental sessions. What happened to them after the sessions was unrecorded. Everling S, Tinsley CJ, Gaffan D, Duncan J. European Journal of Neuroscience 2006; 23:2197-2214. ‘Selective representation of task-relevant objects and locations in the monkey prefrontal cortex.’ Oxford: Researchers debilitate 16-year old monkey A team of Oxford University researchers experimented on a 16-year old macaque as part of an ongoing study of movement disorders associated with Parkinson’s disease. The ageing monkey had surgery to implant a deep brain electrode. It was connected to a pacemaker, which could be turned on and off by remote control. In subsequent experiments, the animal was incapacitated by the administration of MPTP – a chemical that damages the brain and severely impairs control of body movements. The researchers then experimented with a combination of standard drug treatment (L-DOPA) with and without activating the pacemaker. It was found that the two treatments for Parkinson’s (L-DOPA and electrical stimulation via the deep brain electrode) together gave the best overall result. A reading of equivalent studies in human patients suggests that this information has been known since at least 1999. The number of previous experiments that this 16-year old monkey had undergone and what happened to him following this debilitating study remains undeclared. Jenkinson N, Nandi D, Oram R, Stein J, Aziz T. Neuroreport 2006; (17) 6: 639-641. ‘Pedunculopontine nucleus electric stimulation alleviates akinesia independently of dopaminergic mechanisms.’ Funded by the Medical Research Council, the Templeton Foundation and the Charles Wolfson Charitable Foundation Oxford: Monkeys brain-damaged to make them indecisive A team of scientists at Oxford University investigated decision-making behaviour in a group of nine adult macaque monkeys. Three of the monkeys underwent surgery during which deliberate damage was inflicted on an area in the brain thought to be important in decision-making. All nine macaques were coerced into undertaking various reward-guided tasks. They were trained to manipulate a joystick for 150 trials per day, repeated for five consecutive days. The animals were required to get a correct result 25 times in succession, after which the frustration level was increased, as the experimenters demanded a different ‘correct’ answer. Based on a comparison between normal and brain-damaged monkeys, the research team concluded that the damaged brain area is ‘essential for learning the value of actions’. Kennerley SW, Walton ME, Behrens TEJ, Buckley MJ, Rushworth MFS. Nature Funded by the Medical Research Council, the Clarendon Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society. |
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