A test for detecting long-term sensorimotor dysfunction in the mouse after focal cerebral ischemia

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Neurology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Mice are crucial models for studying stroke and neural injury.
• Limited long-term functional outcome measures exist for mouse stroke models.
• Developing sensitive behavioral tests is vital for stroke research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a sensorimotor functional test for long-term outcome measurement in a mouse stroke model.
• To assess the efficacy of the corner test in detecting chronic sensorimotor deficits after focal cerebral ischemia.
• To compare the corner test with traditional neurological assessments for stroke outcome evaluation.

Main Methods:

• Developed and applied the corner test to male C57/6J mice (n=20) subjected to middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion.
• Measured cerebral blood flow (CBF) using perfusion-weighted MRI post-ischemia.
• Administered the corner test, a general neurological test battery, and a foot-fault test between 2 and 90 days post-ischemia.
• Quantified infarct volume at 90 days post-ischemia.

Main Results:

• The corner test demonstrated high predictive value for infarct volume (R(2) = 0.73–0.93) at 90 days.
• A significant correlation (P<0.001) was found between infarct volume and corner test performance.
• Traditional neurological scores and the foot-fault test failed to detect chronic behavioral impairments.

Conclusions:

• The corner test is a sensitive and objective measure for evaluating long-term functional outcomes in mouse models of stroke.
• This test offers a valuable tool for assessing sensorimotor deficits and recovery after cerebral ischemia.
• The corner test surpasses conventional methods in detecting chronic impairments in mouse stroke models.