Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 54
Forelimb Use Asymmetry Analysis of Vertical Exploratory
Activity After Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Rats and Mice
Tim Lekic , Anatol Manaenko , William Rolland , and John H. Zhang
Abstract
Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) leads to lasting sensorimotor defi cits in humans. The test of forelimb use
asymmetry (FUA) has been repeatedly shown to be effective for the longitudinal evaluation of sensorimo-
tor function in rat and mouse models of ICH. This test evaluates the use of forelimbs during weight shift-
ing for vertical exploration in a cylindrical enclosure, and can monitor the recovery of sensorimotor
function without the effect of learning after repeated testing. Relevant descriptions for performing these
assessments are presented in this chapter.
Key words: Behavior, Forelimb asymmetry, Cerebral hemorrhage, Rats, Mice
1. Introduction
Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a devastating stroke subtype
with lasting neurological defi cits ( 1, 2 ). The brain injury in the
days following ICH will exacerbate neurological outcomes even
further ( 3 ). This opens windows of opportunity to discover strate-
gies for improving long-term neurological outcomes using transla-
tional rodent models of ICH ( 4 ). Striatal bleeding is the most
common location for ICH seen clinically, and refl ected in the most
common experimental models using autologous blood or collage-
nase injection into the rodent striatum ( 5 ). Several functional tests
have been developed after ICH in rodents, and the forelimb use
asymmetry (FUA) test is one of them ( 6 ).
The FUA test is also known as the “cylinder test.” The shape
of the cylinder encourages spontaneous rearing for vertical explora-
tion of the walls, and asymmetric preference of limb usage upon the
walls is displayed after unilateral damage to the striatum and/or
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