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Updated: Sep 30, 2026
Compensatory Limb Use and Behavioral Assessment of Motor Skill Learning Following Sensorimotor Cortex Injury in a Mouse Model of Ischemic Stroke
Published on: July 10, 2014
Quantitative and qualitative impairments in skilled reaching in the mouse (Mus musculus) after a focal motor cortex
1Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, The University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
Background And Purpose:
Skilled reaching movements are an important aspect of human motor behavior but are impaired after motor system stroke. The purpose of this study was to document skilled movements in mice before and after a focal motor cortex stroke for the purpose of developing a mouse model of human stroke.
Methods:
Male C57/BL6 mice were trained to reach with a forelimb for food pellets and then given a motor cortex stroke, induced by pial stripping, contralateral to their preferred reaching limb. Reaching success and the movements used in reaching were analyzed by frame-by-frame inspection of presurgical and postsurgical video records.
Results:
Reaching success was severely impaired after the stroke. Improvement in success over 2 postsurgical weeks was moderate. Analysis of 10 movement components comprising reaches pre- and postsurgically indicated that most of the rotatory movements of the limb used for aiming, advancing, pronating, and supinating the paw were impaired. When successful reaches did occur, body movements that compensated for the impairments in limb rotatory movements aided them.
Conclusions:
The results indicate that skilled reaching in the mouse is impaired by focal motor cortex stroke and they suggest that the mouse, and the skilled reaching task, provides an excellent model for studying impairments, compensation, and recovery after motor system stroke.
Insights
Motor cortex stroke severely impairs skilled reaching in mice. This study suggests mice offer a valuable model for understanding stroke-related motor deficits and recovery.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Motor control
- Stroke research
Background:
- Skilled reaching is crucial for human motor function.
- Motor system stroke often impairs these movements.
Purpose of the Study:
- To document skilled reaching movements in mice.
- To establish a mouse model for human stroke research.
Main Methods:
- Mice trained on a forelimb reaching task for food.
- Focal motor cortex stroke induced via pial stripping.
- Pre- and postsurgical video analysis of reaching success and movement components.
Main Results:
- Reaching success significantly reduced post-stroke.
- Moderate recovery observed over two weeks.
- Impairments noted in limb rotation (aiming, advancing, pronation, supination).
- Compensatory body movements assisted successful reaches.
Conclusions:
- Focal motor cortex stroke impairs skilled reaching in mice.
- The mouse model effectively demonstrates stroke-induced motor deficits.
- This model is suitable for studying stroke recovery and compensation.
