Assessment of behavioural deficits following ischaemic stroke in the marmoset

Stroke is a common and devastating disease worldwide. Over the last two decades, many therapeutic approaches to ameliorate ischaemic stroke have been promising in animal studies but failed when transferred to the clinical situation. One of the possible explanations for these failures is the widespread use of animal models of cerebral ischemia that do not mimic the pathology encountered in the clinic. Accordingly, many expert committees recommended the integration of higher order species such as non-human primates in pre-clinical stroke studies. The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), a small New World monkey, start to stand out in the neuroscience field as a good compromise between larger primates and rodents. In this review, we discuss the relevance of the use of the marmoset in stroke studies. We will focus on behavioural tests developed in this species to assess sensorimotor deficits and their recovery during acute and chronic stages of brain ischaemia. The aim of this appraisal is to provide a comprehensive overview of the existing approaches to induce stroke in the marmoset as well as the paradigms for behavioural testing in this species. The data summarized in this review should contribute to the improvement of future stoke studies in the marmoset and accordingly improve the translation of the results from bench to bed.