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J. Muñoz-Delgado1,2 A. M. Santillán-Doherty1 I. Arango-de Montis3

Behavior disorders and Psychopathology in non-human primates? A proposal

1

Grupo de Cronoecología y Etología Humana de la Dirección de Neurociencias del Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, México D.F.

2

Psychology School, UUAM

3

Servicios Clínicos, Hospital del InstitutoNacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, México D.F.

When speaking about primates we must distinguish between non-human primates and human primates, as the latter are part of the primate order. Due to their phylogenetic closeness to humans, non-human primates have been of special interest for such disciplines as neurophysiology, biology, genetics and behavior. Research has included a widerange of species and themes, from socioecology to neuroethology, cognition and phenomena such as empathy and theory of mind. In this article, we aim to demonstrate the occurrence of psychopathology, mental disorders and psychopathy in non-human primates and to propose the alternative use of the concept of condition, which refers to how the individual interacts and adapts to the environment. Wediscuss the fact that human behavioral disorders can also be found in non-human primates. From the perspective of evolutionary psychiatry and developmental psychology, behavior, psychopathology and psychopathy in general are conditions derived from the interaction of biological, psychological and sociological variables, and that reflect strategies with which individuals and groups of individualscontend with the environmental demands in order to survive.
Palabras clave: Attachment. Depression. Pathological anxiety. Prosimios. Monkey. Apes. Humans.

investigaciones se han extendido a diversas especies y abarcan temas desde la socioecología hasta la neuroetología, pasando por la cognición y los fenómenos de la empatía y la teoría de la mente. En este artículo pretendemos demostrar enprimates no-humanos, el trastorno mental, la psicopatología y psicopatía y proponer el concepto alterno de condición, que se refiere a cómo el individuo interactúa y se adapta con el mundo circundante. Discutimos el artículo en términos de que los trastornos en la conducta en primates no-humanos encuentran sus correlatos en primates humanos. Desde la perspectiva de la psiquiatría evolutiva y lapsicología del desarrollo, la conducta, la psicopatología y la psicopatía en general, son condiciones que derivan de la interacción de variables de orden biológico, psicológico y social, y que reflejan estrategias con las cuales los individuos y los grupos de individuos contienden con las demandas del medio para sobrevivir.
Key words: Apego. Depresión. Ansiedad patológica. Prosimios. Monos. Simios.Humanos.

Actas Esp Psiquiatr 2009;37(3):166-173

INTRODUCTION
When referring to primates we must distinguish between human and nonhuman primates, as humans belong to the primate order. First, we will focus on nonhuman primates, and then we will focus on humans only in some contexts. Nonhuman primates are divided in prosimians and anthropoids. Prosimian primates, that are the most different fromhumans, are divided in lemurs, tarsiers, and lorises. They made their appearance in the late Cretaceous period, approximately from 98 to 66 million years ago. They have a quite small complexion and their main characteristic is their inverted rest-activity, sleep-wake rhythm. That is, most of them have nocturnal habits, although among them we can find cathemeral species. Anthropoids, that is,monkeys, apes and humans, are divided into New World and Old World primates, which, respectively, appeared during the Eocene, 55 and 36 million years ago, and the Oligocene, 36 millions
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¿Trastorno de la conducta y psicopatología en primates no-humanos? Una propuesta
Cuando hablamos de primates debemos hacer la distinción entre primates humanos y primates no-humanos, ya que los seres humanos...