Y-chat at webtv.net wrote:
> Monkey's visual and brain components are very close to human's,
> therefore the results of these studies have an obvious connection to
> both "useful" knowledge and "knowledge for the sake of knowledge.
[snip]
> the bulk of the study programs involved conscious monkeys whose measured
> neuronic activity has given a great leap forward ,not only in basic
> vision research, but in the area of cognitive thinking and
> consciousness. Since the monkey studies have been going on for some
> time, it is my opinion that to duplicate the anesthetized studies on
> felines is a cheap trick to get published and latch on to the real work
> that is being done.
There may be a little truth in this, but if you would like to
step forward and suggest that all non-primate mammalian work be
replaced by work in primates, go ahead, the public outcry would
be overwhelming. For many integrative studies of complex
neuronal interactions, an awake behaving primate is the best
subject there is. For other studies of lower level neural
mechanisms, cats, or rats, or in vitro studies may be appropriate
and more cost, time and "morally" effective.
Richard Vickery
