Assessment of Cognitive and Sensorimotor Defi cits - Animal Models of Acute Neurological Injuries: Injury and Mechanistic Assessments - page 233

diffi cult due to their relatively limited behavioral repertoire, but
can be done with certain modifi cations ( 2-4 ). Additionally, these
tests are most appropriate for animals that have had at least a week
to recover from any acute, but transient, effects of injury. However,
some of the tests, especially those administered on day 1, are also
appropriate for testing such acute effects (e.g., for studies of thera-
peutic treatments for these effects).
Because most of the tests take multiple measurements of the
same variable over time, data analysis for these tests generally
consists of repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) or
multiple regression. Issues regarding proper adjustments to alpha
levels/ p -values for multiple tests (e.g., the Bonferroni method,
etc.), advanced techniques such as factor analyses (determining how
variables “cluster” together), and power analysis (determining
how many animals are required to produce quality data—a good
starting point is ten per group) are beyond the scope of this chapter
and are best discussed with an experienced biostatistician. However,
the benefi t of running such a comprehensive test battery is that the
(potentially spurious) results of any single test or measure need not
be “overinterpreted,” as the wide variety of domains tested and
measures recorded will provide a relatively rich profi le of each
group's behavioral characteristics.
Finally, please regard the experimental parameters described
here as simply useful guidelines. Depending on several factors,
including species, age, injury model, and previous test experience,
certain aspects of the tests may need tweaking. Thus, pilot studies
should be conducted to ensure that animals can the perform tests
well enough to gather good data. Generally, the parameters should
be adjusted so that controls display a “medium” level of perfor-
mance, giving the experimenter the opportunity to observe group
performance changes in both directions (e.g., improvement or
defi cit).

We usually administer the eye blink test fi rst, and only once. The
remaining tests are cycled through three times (i.e., all animals are
tested for righting ability, then all are tested on beam balance, etc.,
and this series is repeated three times).

3.1. Day 1 (See Note 1):
Eye Blink, Righting
Ability, Beam Balance,
Footfall, Inclined Plane,
Wire Hang, Adhesive
Tape Removal, Cylinder
Test

1. Eye blink

Procedure . While restraining the animal's head, approach
the eye with the cotton swap.

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Variables measured . Note the presence or absence of an eye
blink.

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Data interpretation . The absence of an eye blink could
indicate visual defi cits. The results of further tests that
require vision (e.g., the water maze) should be interpreted
with caution for these animals.

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