Neurobehavioral Assessments of Subarachnoid Hemorrhage - Animal Models of Acute Neurological Injuries: Injury and Mechanistic Assessments - page 415

However, neurobehavioral tests have only recently reported and
are not established for SAH. Neurological scales have been mainly
used, while rotarod, beam balance, beam walking tasks, and Morris
water maze have not been widely used ( 4 ).
Among many neurobehavioral scales, the scoring system
reported by Garcia et al. in 1995 ( 5 ) with or without a modifi cation
has been repeatedly used to investigate early pathophysiological
changes after SAH. This test was originally developed to detect
defi cits produced by focal ischemia of the middle cerebral artery
territory in rats. Because focal defi cits are rare in animal models of
SAH, Sugawara et al. ( 6 ) or other researchers modifi ed and made
it more sensitive to the acute effects of SAH. This scale can be used
in rat and mouse SAH models, especially in an endovascular perfo-
ration SAH model that shows a high mortality and acute metabolic
changes similar to clinical fi ndings and is considered to be suitable
for investigating early pathophysiological changes after SAH.
Larger animal models have been used to study cerebral vasospasm,
and neurobehavioral testing suitable for the evaluation of vasos-
pasm are discussed in other chapters.
The modifi ed Garcia's neurological score consists of six tests
that can be scored 0-3 or 1-3. These six tests include (1) sponta-
neous activity; (2) spontaneous movement of all four limbs;
(3) forepaw outstretching; (4) climbing; (5) body proprioception;
and (7) response to whisker stimulation. The maximum score is 18
and the minimum score is 2. Higher scores indicate greater func-
tion. The advantages of this scale are relatively simple and it can be
assessed repeatedly at some intervals until the sacrifi ce without spe-
cial equipment or a high degree of skill. More importantly, this
scale has repeatedly detected effects of therapeutic interventions in
SAH animals from 6 to 72 h after SAH ( 4 ). However, this scale has
a couple of limitations: (1) it is somewhat subjective, and therefore
should be assessed by a well-trained investigator blinded to the
animal's treatment to avoid biases and (2) this scale has not been
tested if it can detect neurological differences at late time points.
2. Materials
No special materials or instruments but the following are needed:
1. Plastic gloves to protect your hands
2. A cage for mice or rats (no cover)
3. Timer
4. A 60° of slope made by mesh or wire (Fig. 1 )
5. A blunt stick or Q-tip (cotton swab)