Health
PETA pleads with NIH to stop funding for animal study, calls sleep experiment 'cruel and horrific'
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has reached out not only to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with a plea, but to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as well, asking him to help stop a planned research study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which it claims involves cruelty to animals.
The study, intended to gather information about age-related cognitive decline, involves disrupting the sleep of aged marmosets, which are small, long-tailed South American monkeys.
“As the governor of the state with the largest number of older Americans, [DeSantis] is in a unique position to condemn — before they begin — planned ‘aging’ experiments on tiny marmoset monkeys,” PETA articulated in an email to Fox News Digital about its outreach.
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“PETA has obtained documents showing that [a research team] is going to be waking the monkeys every 15 minutes all night long by blaring loud noise at them,” the email continued.
In the letter to DeSantis, which was shown exclusively to Fox News Digital, Kathy Guillermo, senior vice president of PETA’s Laboratory Investigations Department, described the study as “horrific.”
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) reached out to the National Institutes of Health about a planned study to take place at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (shown above, left). The study will disrupt the sleep of aged marmosets in an attempt to learn more about age-related cognitive decline. PETA sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida as well, hoping that he might step in as the governor of a state with “the largest number of older Americans.” (iStock)
“Keeping a monkey from sleeping — considered a form of torture in humans that can ultimately result in death — won’t mimic insomnia in people,” she wrote.
“This proposed experiment is so cruel that it’s classified by the university as what’s called a ‘Column E’ study — meaning it causes distress and pain without any relief.”
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The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is led by Agnès Lacreuse, a professor at the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, and will be conducted at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, according to records on the NIH website.
PETA sent this letter to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asking for his help in stopping a planned study to take place at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It says the Sunshine State has over 412,000 PETA members and supporters in Florida. (PETA)
PETA sent a second, more detailed letter to the NIH.
“The proposed experiments involve causing nonhuman primates irreversible harm for experiments that offer little to no new scientifically valuable knowledge or human benefit,” stated the letter, which is signed by Katherine V. Roe, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at PETA’s Laboratory Investigations Department.
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Roe urged the NIH to “consider discontinuing funding for these extremely invasive experiments so that those resources can be directed toward research that could actually help our ever-growing aging population.”
The study, intended to gather information about age-related cognitive decline, involves disrupting the sleep of aged marmosets, which are small, long-tailed South American monkeys. (iStock)
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Roe of PETA acknowledged that “improving the lives of the aging population in the U.S. is of ever-increasing importance and deserves serious attention from the scientific community.”
She also stated, however, “It is appalling that the NIH is wasting taxpayer funds waking marmosets up night after night in experiments that are not only cruel and unnecessary, but have no chance of improving human health.”
Roe suggested that “better studies can and have been done with human volunteers.”
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) corporate headquarters building in Norfolk, Virginia, in May 2023. (iStock)
“The NIH and the Wisconsin National Primate Center should be ashamed of themselves for subjecting these monkeys to maximum pain experiments under the guise of meaningful science,” she added.
University defends the study’s safety, importance
Michelle Ciucci, faculty director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Animal Program and professor of surgery, told Fox News Digital that researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Massachusetts-Amherst are collaborating on a study of Alzheimer’s disease.
“They are focusing on the role [that] poor sleep plays in this debilitating disorder that often results in deadly complications,” she said.
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Their goal, she said, is to develop a new way to study Alzheimer’s.
“To better understand and combat human diseases like Alzheimer’s, researchers must turn to animals to mimic complex human biology,” Ciucci said.
“Nonhuman primates like marmosets share similar features of their biology with humans — in particular, their brains — and offer opportunities to study the causes of Alzheimer’s and potential treatments,” a faculty director and researcher told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
“Nonhuman primates like marmosets share similar features of their biology with humans — in particular, their brains — and offer opportunities to study the causes of Alzheimer’s and potential treatments.”
In this NIH-funded pilot study, researchers plan to disrupt the sleep of adult marmosets, a primate species that is often used in brain studies, noted Ciucci.
“To better understand and combat human diseases like Alzheimer’s, researchers must turn to animals to mimic complex human biology.”
“Other scientists have discovered connections between disrupted sleep and conditions including dementia and Alzheimer’s, but have not yet established poor sleep as a cause of those disorders,” she said.
During the course of the study, a small group of the animals will be awakened from sleep several times over the course of one night, Ciucci said.
The study will be conducted at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, according to NIH records. (iStock)
In later phases, they will be awakened over the course of three nights in a row.
“The animals, attended to by specially trained veterinarians in carefully managed conditions, will be awakened by sound — short tones played at about the same volume as a normal conversation or an alarm clock,” she said. “The sound will be loud enough to wake the animals but not scare them.”
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The researchers will track the animals’ behavior, cognitive skills and other “biological indicators” to determine whether the sleep disruptions result in cognitive impairment and biochemical changes similar to those seen in human Alzheimer’s patients, the researcher told Fox News Digital.
As far as why the study is classified as “Category E,” Ciucci said it’s possible that the sleep disruptions “may cause discomfort that cannot be addressed with typical methods like medication.”
It would be “unethical and difficult” to use humans in a study to explore sleep’s role in the development of a disease like Alzheimer’s, researchers noted. (iStock)
“Providing medications or other means of relief would interfere with the validity of the study and its interpretations,” she said.
It would be “unethical and difficult” to use humans in a study to explore sleep’s role in the development of a disease like Alzheimer’s, the researcher noted.
“Until scientists understand the causes and development of Alzheimer’s in a way that helps them study more treatments in humans, studying animal models of the disease remains necessary to researchers, patient advocacy organizations like the Alzheimer’s Association, the public and experts at federal agencies — including the National Institutes of Health, which vetted and funded the marmoset sleep study because they consider it promising and important to public health,” she added.
Fox News Digital reached out to both Gov. DeSantis’ office and to the NIH requesting additional comment.
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Feeling lonely may take a toll on older adults’ memory — but it may not speed up cognitive decline, according to a new study.
Researchers from Colombia, Spain and Sweden analyzed data from more than 10,000 adults ages 65 to 94 across 12 European countries and found those who reported higher levels of loneliness did worse on memory tests at the start of the study, according to research published this month in the journal Aging & Mental Health.
Over a seven-year period, however, memory decline occurred at a similar rate regardless of how lonely participants felt.
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“The finding that loneliness significantly impacted memory, but not the speed of decline in memory over time was a surprising outcome,” lead author Dr. Luis Carlos Venegas-Sanabria of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Universidad del Rosario said in a statement.
Loneliness may be linked to memory performance in older adults, a new study suggests. (iStock)
“It suggests that loneliness may play a more prominent role in the initial state of memory than in its progressive decline,” Venegas-Sanabria said, adding that the findings highlight the importance of addressing loneliness as a factor in cognitive performance.
The findings add to debate about whether loneliness contributes to dementia risk. While loneliness and social isolation are often considered risk factors for cognitive decline, research results have been mixed.
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The study looked at data from the long-running Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which tracked 10,217 older adults between 2012 and 2019. Participants were asked to recall words immediately and after a delay to measure memory performance.
Social isolation and loneliness could play a surprising role in cognitive health among seniors. (iStock)
Loneliness was assessed using three questions about how often participants felt isolated, left out or lacking companionship.
About 8% of participants reported high levels of loneliness at the outset. That group tended to be older, more likely to be female and more likely to have conditions such as depression.
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Researchers found that those with higher loneliness had lower scores on both immediate and delayed memory tests at baseline. Still, all groups — regardless of loneliness level — experienced similar declines in memory over time.
The results suggest loneliness may not directly accelerate the progression of memory loss, though it remains linked to poorer cognitive performance overall.
Researchers look at a brain scan at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
Experts warn, however, that the findings should not be interpreted to mean loneliness is harmless.
“The finding that lonely older adults start with worse memory but don’t decline faster is actually the most interesting part of the paper, and I think it’s easy to misread,” said Jordan Weiss, Ph.D., a scientific advisor and aging expert at Assisted Living Magazine and a professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
“It likely means loneliness does its damage earlier in life, well before people show up in a study like this at 65-plus,” Weiss told Fox News Digital.
By older age, long-term social patterns may already be established, making it harder to detect when the effects of loneliness first took hold, an aging expert says. (iStock)
He suggested that by older age, long-term social patterns may already be established, making it harder to detect when the effects of loneliness first took hold.
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“By the time you’re measuring someone in their late 60s, decades of social connection patterns are already baked in,” he said.
Weiss, who was not involved in the research, added that loneliness may coincide with other health conditions, and noted that participants who felt more isolated also had higher rates of depression, high-blood pressure and diabetes. The link, he said, may reflect a cluster of health risks rather than a direct cause.
“While they can go hand-in-hand, it’s not clear that loneliness contributes to dementia,” a psychotherapist says. (iStock)
Amy Morin, a Florida-based psychotherapist and author, said the findings reflect a broader pattern in research on loneliness and brain health, and that the relationship may be more complex than it appears.
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“The evidence shows there’s a link between loneliness and cognitive decline but there’s no direct evidence of a cause and effect relationship,” she said. “So while they can go hand-in-hand, it’s not clear that loneliness contributes to dementia.”
Morin added that loneliness, which can fluctuate, may not be the root of the problem, but rather a symptom of other underlying mental or physical health issues.
Researchers suggested screening for loneliness be incorporated into routine cognitive assessments as one way to support healthy aging. (iStock)
She said staying socially and mentally engaged is crucial for overall brain health.
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“It’s important to be proactive about social activities,” Morin said. “Joining a book club, having coffee with a friend, or attending faith-based services can be a powerful way to maintain connections in older age.”
The researchers also suggested screening for loneliness be incorporated into routine cognitive assessments as one way to support healthy aging.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for comment.
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Research continues to uncover new details on how fasting may help extend life.
A new study published in the journal Nature Communications investigated how intermittent fasting can boost longevity in small worms often used in aging research.
Researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas compared worms that were fed normally to those that underwent a 24-hour fast in early adulthood and were then fed again, according to a press release.
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The scientists measured a variety of factors, including stored fat, gene activity related to fat metabolism and lifespan.
The results showed that the life-boosting benefit did not depend on the fasting itself but on the body’s behavior after eating again.
Experts say sustainability is key when choosing a long-term weight-loss strategy. (iStock)
Study lead Peter Douglas, associate professor of molecular biology and a member of the Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine at UT Southwestern, suggested that these discoveries “shift the focus toward a neglected side of the metabolic coin – the re-feeding phase.”
“Our data suggest that the health-promoting effects of intermittent fasting are not merely a product of the fast itself, but are dependent on how the metabolic machinery recalibrates during the subsequent transition back to a fed state,” he said.
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“Our findings bridge a gap between lipid metabolism and aging research,” he added. “By targeting aging, the single greatest risk factor for human disease, we move beyond treating isolated conditions toward a preventive model of medicine that enhances quality of life for all individuals.”
Lauri Wright, director of nutrition programs at the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health, called this a “high-quality” study that adds an “important nuance to how we think about fasting and longevity.”
Intermittent fasting typically involves limiting meals to an eight-hour daily window or fasting every other day. (iStock)
The benefits of the refeeding phase after fasting were “especially interesting,” Wright, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
“The researchers showed that longevity was linked to the body’s ability to turn off fat breakdown after fasting, allowing cells to restore energy balance,” she reiterated.
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“From a scientific standpoint, that’s a meaningful shift because it suggests fasting is not just about burning fat, but about metabolic flexibility.”
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Fasting may support longevity through triggering metabolic switching, enhancing cellular repair and stress resistance and improving markers like insulin sensitivity, research shows.
Limitations and cautions
Although this study provides “important insight” on the power of refeeding, Wright noted that the findings should be approached with caution, as the study was done on worms and cannot always be translated to humans.
“Additionally, it explains how a process might work in a controlled lab condition rather than real-world eating behaviors,” she added as a limitation. “Finally, the study is short-term and doesn’t give us the long-term translation on lifespan outcomes.”
The review found intermittent fasting was barely more effective than doing nothing, according to the study authors. (iStock)
Wright cautioned that fasting is “not a magic solution for longevity, and how you eat overall matters more than when you eat.”
“I advise, first and foremost, to focus on diet quality, including a variety of fruits and vegetables, healthy fats and minimally processed foods,” she said.
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For those who are considering fasting, it’s better to stick with a moderate plan — like a 12- to 14-hour overnight fast — rather than going to extremes, Wright said. After fasting, she recommends focusing on well-balanced meals.
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Several groups of people should be cautioned against fasting, according to Wright, including those with diabetes who are on insulin or hypoglycemic medications, those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, anyone with a history of eating disorders and older adults at risk of malnutrition.
Anyone considering intermittent fasting should consult with a doctor before starting.
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