They are cooped up, often isolated from friends and family. Away from their natural environment, they don't have much to occupy their minds. So much free time can lead to boredom, depression, and even physical illnesses.

Those words describe the similarities between two otherwise very different populations: senior citizens in a nursing home and primates at research centers around the country. At the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center in Atlanta, GA, two enterprising research assistants came up with an idea that helps them both.
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Giving Back

Researchers at the prestigious Yerkes lab and facility study some 3,400 primates, searching for cures for AIDS, heart disease, Parkinson's and others illnesses. The scientists also study primate behavior for clues about our own behavior and our evolutionary origins. Nancy Megna studies behavioral endocrinology at Yerkes' field facility in Lawrenceville, GA. Having worked with primates since 1991, Megna's interest focuses on mother/infant relationships, what combination of nature and nurture makes some monkeys good moms and other ones not so good. Not surprisingly, Megna cares deeply about her research animals and the nearly 20,000 primates in research facilities around the country.

Treats like this tube filled with goodies are more fun for the primates.

"I always wanted to help and to give back to primates," says Megna. "The debt we owe them is insurmountable."

Megna's respect for her research subjects wasn't the only thing compelling her to find ways to entertain the captive primates. The 1985 amendment to the federal Animal Welfare Act requires that research facilities keep their animals as comfortable as possible, physically and psychologically. Maintaining the psychological health of creatures as intelligent and social as primates can be a time consuming and costly endeavor.

Many senior citizens are dedicated to the program.

"Environmental enrichment," as the psychological care of lab animals is called, requires a lot of people, materials, and time that are not always easy to come by at most research centers. In late 1999, inspired by her elderly uncle's experience at a nursing home, Megna had an idea. "I realized seniors don't have a whole heck of a lot to do," she says. "They lose their sense of purpose and of community." Megna knew nursing home residents like her uncle whiled away the hours doing arts and crafts. She wondered if the seniors' efforts could be put to better use, making creative treat packages for the Yerkes primates. Cleverly concealing cereal, granola, nuts, popcorn and other goodies in variously configured paper towel rolls, paper cups and sandwich baggies would be doing something to enrich the lives of the primates and the seniors alike.

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Photos: Samantha Smith; Gwinnett Extended Care Center