Saccade Characteristics of Two Species Callithrix Jacchus and Callithrix Penicillata from the Marmoset Family as a Laboratory Model in Vision Research

The common marmoset's performance in saccadic eye movements is similar to that of humans and macaques as a regular model in vision research, and phylogenetically, it is a primate that is intermediate in the evolution between rodents and macaques. Therefore, with high cognitive capabilities and the potential to use molecular techniques, it is a suitable option for research. In this study, the characteristics of saccadic eye movements were investigated in two species of the marmoset family.

Two common marmoset and one black-tufted marmoset were investigated after head-post implantation surgery and training in behavioral tasks to measure the characteristics of saccadic eye movements. After extracting the saccades, amplitude, velocity, duration, and inter-saccades interval were used to compare. To compare the data, the overlap of histograms and boxplots along with statistical tests were used.

In all measured characteristics, a large overlap between histograms and boxplots in the distribution of saccades data was observed between three animals. However, the statistical comparison of the data shows a significant difference between the saccade characteristics (P<0.001).

Despite the differences between species, the similarity in eye saccadic characteristics in two species of common marmoset and black-tufted marmoset indicates the possibility of using both species in vision research.