Abstract
For the past decades, experimental intervention showed therapeutic promise in animal models of stroke has largely failed to produce beneficial effects in human stroke patients. The difficulty in translating preclinical findings represents a major challenge in cerebrovascular research. The reasons for this translational road block might be explained by a number of factors, including poor quality control in various stages of the research process, insufficient experimental power, the validity of experimental stroke model, and the different choices of end point or outcome measures. In this chapter, we present, next to general introduction to behavioral research in rodents, some widely used and reliable behavioral tests by which various sensory, motoric, cognitive, and psychological impairments in rodent stroke models can be assessed. Each test is described in detail and important protocol keypoints for successful testing in rodent stroke models are included.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Endres M, Engelhardt B, Koistinaho J, Lindvall O, Meairs S, Mohr JP, Planas A, Rothwell N, Schwaninger M, Schwab ME, Vivien D, Wieloch T, Dirnagl U (2008) Improving outcome after stroke: overcoming the translational roadblock. Cerebrovasc Dis 25(3):268–278. doi:10.1159/000118039
Bebarta V, Luyten D, Heard K (2003) Emergency medicine animal research: does use of randomization and blinding affect the results? Acad Emerg Med 10(6):684–687
Ioannidis JP, Haidich AB, Pappa M, Pantazis N, Kokori SI, Tektonidou MG, Contopoulos-Ioannidis DG, Lau J (2001) Comparison of evidence of treatment effects in randomized and nonrandomized studies. JAMA 286(7):821–830
Sorge RE, Martin LJ, Isbester KA, Sotocinal SG, Rosen S, Tuttle AH, Wieskopf JS, Acland EL, Dokova A, Kadoura B, Leger P, Mapplebeck JC, McPhail M, Delaney A, Wigerblad G, Schumann AP, Quinn T, Frasnelli J, Svensson CI, Sternberg WF, Mogil JS (2014) Olfactory exposure to males, including men, causes stress and related analgesia in rodents. Nat Methods 11(6):629–632. doi:10.1038/nmeth.2935
Robinson RG (1997) Neuropsychiatric consequences of stroke. Annu Rev Med 48:217–229. doi:10.1146/annurev.med.48.1.217
Elwan O, Hashem S, Helmy AA, el Tamawy M, Abdel Naseer M, Elwan F, Madkour O, Abdel Kader A, el Tatawy S (1994) Cognitive deficits in ischemic strokes: psychometric, electrophysiological and cranial tomographic assessment. J Neurol Sci 125(2):168–174
Tatemichi TK, Desmond DW, Stern Y, Paik M, Sano M, Bagiella E (1994) Cognitive impairment after stroke: frequency, patterns, and relationship to functional abilities. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 57(2):202–207
Bederson JB, Pitts LH, Tsuji M, Nishimura MC, Davis RL, Bartkowski H (1986) Rat middle cerebral artery occlusion: evaluation of the model and development of a neurologic examination. Stroke 17(3):472–476
Chen J, Zhang C, Jiang H, Li Y, Zhang L, Robin A, Katakowski M, Lu M, Chopp M (2005) Atorvastatin induction of VEGF and BDNF promotes brain plasticity after stroke in mice. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 25(2):281–290. doi:10.1038/sj.jcbfm.9600034
Li Y, Chen J, Wang L, Lu M, Chopp M (2001) Treatment of stroke in rat with intracarotid administration of marrow stromal cells. Neurology 56(12):1666–1672
Clark WM, Lessov NS, Dixon MP, Eckenstein F (1997) Monofilament intraluminal middle cerebral artery occlusion in the mouse. Neurol Res 19(6):641–648
De Simoni MG, Storini C, Barba M, Catapano L, Arabia AM, Rossi E, Bergamaschini L (2003) Neuroprotection by complement (C1) inhibitor in mouse transient brain ischemia. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 23(2):232–239
Orsini F, Villa P, Parrella S, Zangari R, Zanier ER, Gesuete R, Stravalaci M, Fumagalli S, Ottria R, Reina JJ, Paladini A, Micotti E, Ribeiro-Viana R, Rojo J, Pavlov VI, Stahl GL, Bernardi A, Gobbi M, De Simoni MG (2012) Targeting mannose-binding lectin confers long-lasting protection with a surprisingly wide therapeutic window in cerebral ischemia. Circulation 126(12):1484–1494. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.112.103051
Desland FA, Afzal A, Warraich Z, Mocco J (2014) Manual versus automated rodent behavioral assessment: comparing efficacy and ease of bederson and garcia neurological deficit scores to an open field video-tracking system. J Cent Nerv Syst Dis 6:7–14. doi:10.4137/JCNSD.S13194
Jones BJ, Roberts DJ (1968) A rotarod suitable for quantitative measurements of motor incoordination in naive mice. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Exp Pathol Pharmakol 259(2):211
Barlow C, Hirotsune S, Paylor R, Liyanage M, Eckhaus M, Collins F, Shiloh Y, Crawley JN, Ried T, Tagle D, Wynshaw-Boris A (1996) Atm-deficient mice: a paradigm of ataxia telangiectasia. Cell 86(1):159–171. pii:S0092-8674(00)80086-0
Homanics GE, Quinlan JJ, Firestone LL (1999) Pharmacologic and behavioral responses of inbred C57BL/6J and strain 129/SvJ mouse lines. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 63(1):21–26. pii:S0091-3057(98)00232-9
Bouet V, Freret T, Toutain J, Divoux D, Boulouard M, Schumann-Bard P (2007) Sensorimotor and cognitive deficits after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion in the mouse. Exp Neurol 203(2):555–567. pii:S0014-4886(06)00544-9 doi:10.1016/j.expneurol.2006.09.006
Li Y, Chopp M, Chen J, Wang L, Gautam SC, Xu YX, Zhang Z (2000) Intrastriatal transplantation of bone marrow nonhematopoietic cells improves functional recovery after stroke in adult mice. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 20(9):1311–1319. doi:10.1097/00004647-200009000-00006
Gibson CL, Bath PM, Murphy SP (2005) G-CSF reduces infarct volume and improves functional outcome after transient focal cerebral ischemia in mice. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 25(4):431–439. pii:9600033 doi:10.1038/sj.jcbfm.9600033
Gibson CL, Murphy SP (2004) Progesterone enhances functional recovery after middle cerebral artery occlusion in male mice. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 24(7):805–813. pii:00004647-200407000-00011 doi:10.1097/01.WCB.0000125365.83980.00
Rustay NR, Wahlsten D, Crabbe JC (2003) Influence of task parameters on rotarod performance and sensitivity to ethanol in mice. Behav Brain Res 141(2):237–249
Ogawa N, Hirose Y, Ohara S, Ono T, Watanabe Y (1985) A simple quantitative bradykinesia test in MPTP-treated mice. Res Commun Chem Pathol Pharmacol 50(3):435–441
Prinz V, Laufs U, Gertz K, Kronenberg G, Balkaya M, Leithner C, Lindauer U, Endres M (2008) Intravenous rosuvastatin for acute stroke treatment: an animal study. Stroke 39(2):433–438. pii:STROKEAHA.107.492470 doi:10.1161/STROKEAHA.107.492470
Royl G, Balkaya M, Lehmann S, Lehnardt S, Stohlmann K, Lindauer U, Endres M, Dirnagl U, Meisel A (2009) Effects of the PDE5-inhibitor vardenafil in a mouse stroke model. Brain Res 1265:148–157. pii:S0006-8993(09)00220-0 doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2009.01.061 [doi]
Gertz K, Priller J, Kronenberg G, Fink KB, Winter B, Schrock H, Ji S, Milosevic M, Harms C, Bohm M, Dirnagl U, Laufs U, Endres M (2006) Physical activity improves long-term stroke outcome via endothelial nitric oxide synthase-dependent augmentation of neovascularization and cerebral blood flow. Circ Res 99(10):1132–1140. pii:01.RES.0000250175.14861.77 doi:10.1161/01.RES.0000250175.14861.77
Hattori K, Lee H, Hurn PD, Crain BJ, Traystman RJ, DeVries AC (2000) Cognitive deficits after focal cerebral ischemia in mice. Stroke 31(8):1939–1944
Cho S, Park EM, Febbraio M, Anrather J, Park L, Racchumi G, Silverstein RL, Iadecola C (2005) The class B scavenger receptor CD36 mediates free radical production and tissue injury in cerebral ischemia. J Neurosci 25(10):2504–2512. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0035-05.2005
Ji S, Kronenberg G, Balkaya M, Farber K, Gertz K, Kettenmann H, Endres M (2009) Acute neuroprotection by pioglitazone after mild brain ischemia without effect on long-term outcome. Exp Neurol 216(2):321–328. pii:S0014-4886(08)00473-1 doi:10.1016/j.expneurol.2008.12.007
Abe T, Kunz A, Shimamura M, Zhou P, Anrather J, Iadecola C (2009) The neuroprotective effect of prostaglandin E2 EP1 receptor inhibition has a wide therapeutic window, is sustained in time and is not sexually dimorphic. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 29 (1):66–72. pii:jcbfm200888 doi:10.1038/jcbfm.2008.88
Schallert T, Upchurch M, Lobaugh N, Farrar SB, Spirduso WW, Gilliam P, Vaughn D, Wilcox RE (1982) Tactile extinction: distinguishing between sensorimotor and motor asymmetries in rats with unilateral nigrostriatal damage. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 16(3):455–462
Schallert T, Upchurch M, Wilcox RE, Vaughn DM (1983) Posture-independent sensorimotor analysis of inter-hemispheric receptor asymmetries in neostriatum. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 18(5):753–759
Zhang L, Schallert T, Zhang ZG, Jiang Q, Arniego P, Li Q, Lu M, Chopp M (2002) A test for detecting long-term sensorimotor dysfunction in the mouse after focal cerebral ischemia. J Neurosci Methods 117(2):207–214. pii:S0165027002001140
Li X, Blizzard KK, Zeng Z, DeVries AC, Hurn PD, McCullough LD (2004) Chronic behavioral testing after focal ischemia in the mouse: functional recovery and the effects of gender. Exp Neurol 187(1):94–104. doi:10.1016/j.expneurol.2004.01 pii:004S0014488604000135
Hao J, Mdzinarishvili A, Abbruscato TJ, Klein J, Geldenhuys WJ, Van der Schyf CJ, Bickel U (2008) Neuroprotection in mice by NGP1-01 after transient focal brain ischemia. Brain Res 1196:113–120. pii:S0006-8993(07)02871-5 doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2007.11.075
Alexander LD, Black SE, Patterson KK, Gao F, Danells CJ, McIlroy WE (2009) Association between gait asymmetry and brain lesion location in stroke patients. Stroke 40(2):537–544. doi:10.1161/STROKEAHA.108.527374
Batka RJ, Brown TJ, McMillan KP, Meadows RM, Jones KJ, Haulcomb MM (2014) The need for speed in rodent locomotion analyses. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 297(10):1839–1864. doi:10.1002/ar.22955
Balkaya M, Krober J, Gertz K, Peruzzaro S, Endres M (2013) Characterization of long-term functional outcome in a murine model of mild brain ischemia. J Neurosci Methods 213(2):179–187. doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2012.12.021
Neckel ND, Dai H, Bregman BS (2013) Quantifying changes following spinal cord injury with velocity dependent locomotor measures. J Neurosci Methods 214(1):27–36. doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2013.01.008
Neckel ND (2015) Methods to quantify the velocity dependence of common gait measurements from automated rodent gait analysis devices. J Neurosci Methods 253:244–253. doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2015.06.017
Whishaw IQ, Tomie J (1996) Of mice and mazes: similarities between mice and rats on dry land but not water mazes. Physiol Behav 60(5):1191–1197
Kawamata T, Akiguchi I, Yagi H, Irino M, Sugiyama H, Akiyama H, Shimada A, Takemura M, Ueno M, Kitabayashi T, Ohnishi K, Seriu N, Higuchi K, Hosokawa M, Takeda T (1997) Neuropathological studies on strains of senescence-accelerated mice (SAM) with age-related deficits in learning and memory. Exp Gerontol 32(1–2):161–169
Sarter M, Hagan J, Dudchenko P (1992) Behavioral screening for cognition enhancers: from indiscriminate to valid testing: Part II. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 107(4):461–473
Freret T, Bouet V, Leconte C, Roussel S, Chazalviel L, Divoux D, Schumann-Bard P, Boulouard M (2009) Behavioral deficits after distal focal cerebral ischemia in mice: Usefulness of adhesive removal test. Behav Neurosci 123(1):224–230. pii:2009-00623-016 doi:10.1037/a0014157
Fassino S, Torre E (1980) Short-term memory. An experimental model. Boll Soc Ital Biol Sper 56(6):601–605
Voits M, Fink H, Gerhardt P, Huston JP (1995) Application of ‘nose-poke habituation’ validation with post-trial diazepam- and cholecystokinin-induced hypo- and hypermnesia. J Neurosci Methods 57(1):101–105. pii:0165027094001435
Montgomery KC (1955) The relation between fear induced by novel stimulation and exploratory behavior. J Comp Physiol Psychol 48(4):254–260
Handley SL, Mithani S (1984) Effects of alpha-adrenoceptor agonists and antagonists in a maze-exploration model of ‘fear’-motivated behaviour. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol 327(1):1–5
Pellow S, Chopin P, File SE, Briley M (1985) Validation of open:closed arm entries in an elevated plus-maze as a measure of anxiety in the rat. J Neurosci Methods 14(3):149–167. pii:0165-0270(85)90031-7
Rodgers RJ, Cole JC (1993) Influence of social isolation, gender, strain, and prior novelty on plus-maze behaviour in mice. Physiol Behav 54(4):729–736. pii:0031-9384(93)90084-S
Sarkaki A, Farbood Y, Badavi M, Khalaj L, Khodagholi F, Ashabi G (2015) Metformin improves anxiety-like behaviors through AMPK-dependent regulation of autophagy following transient forebrain ischemia. Metab Brain Dis. doi:10.1007/s11011-015-9677-x
Winter B, Juckel G, Viktorov I, Katchanov J, Gietz A, Sohr R, Balkaya M, Hortnagl H, Endres M (2005) Anxious and hyperactive phenotype following brief ischemic episodes in mice. Biol Psychiatry 57(10):1166–1175. pii:S0006-3223(05)00175-7 doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2005.02.010
Crawley JN (1985) Exploratory behavior models of anxiety in mice. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 9(1):37–44
Kilic E, Kilic U, Bacigaluppi M, Guo Z, Abdallah NB, Wolfer DP, Reiter RJ, Hermann DM, Bassetti CL (2008) Delayed melatonin administration promotes neuronal survival, neurogenesis and motor recovery, and attenuates hyperactivity and anxiety after mild focal cerebral ischemia in mice. J Pineal Res 45(2):142–148. pii:JPI568 doi:10.1111/j.1600-079X.2008.00568.x
Whyte EM, Mulsant BH (2002) Post stroke depression: epidemiology, pathophysiology, and biological treatment. Biol Psychiatry 52(3):253–264. pii:S0006322302014245
Monleon S, D’Aquila P, Parra A, Simon VM, Brain PF, Willner P (1995) Attenuation of sucrose consumption in mice by chronic mild stress and its restoration by imipramine. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 117(4):453–457
Craft TK, DeVries AC (2006) Role of IL-1 in poststroke depressive-like behavior in mice. Biol Psychiatry 60(8):812–818. pii:S0006-3223(06)00376-3 doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.03.011
Willner P, Moreau JL, Nielsen CK, Papp M, Sluzewska A (1996) Decreased hedonic responsiveness following chronic mild stress is not secondary to loss of body weight. Physiol Behav 60(1):129–134. pii:0031938495022562
Wu C, Zhang J, Chen Y (2015) Study on the behavioral changes of a post-stroke depression rat model. Exp Ther Med 10(1):159–163. doi:10.3892/etm.2015.2450
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Bernard, R., Balkaya, M., Rex, A. (2016). Behavioral Testing in Rodent Models of Stroke, Part I. In: Dirnagl, U. (eds) Rodent Models of Stroke. Neuromethods, vol 120. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-5620-3_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-5620-3_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-5618-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-5620-3
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols