Neurological tests for functional outcome assessment in rodent models of ischaemic stroke

A critical aspect in all models is the assessment of the final outcome of the modelling procedure. In the case of a focal ischaemic brain injury, apart from the determination of the size of the lesion, another valuable tool is the evaluation of the final functional deficit. Indeed, ischaemic damage leads to the appearance of different degrees of sensoriomotor and cognitive impairments, which may yield useful information on location and size of the lesion and on the efficacy of neuroprotective treatments after the acute injury. In addition, the magnitude of these impairments may also be useful to predict final outcome and to evaluate neuro-restorative therapies in a long-term scenario. To this aim, a wide range of tests has been developed which allow the quantification of all these neurological symptoms. This review intends to compile the most useful behavioural tests designed to assess neurological symptoms in studies of focal experimental cerebral ischemia in rodents induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion, the most commonly used model of ischaemic stroke.