Sex differences in recovery of motor function in a rhesus monkey model of cortical injury

Stroke disproportionately affects men and women, with women over 65 years experiencing increased severity of impairment and higher mortality rates than men. Human studies have explored risk factors that contribute to these differences, but additional research is needed to investigate how sex differences affect functional recovery and hence the severity of impairment. In the present study, we used our rhesus monkey model of cortical injury and fine motor impairment to compare sex differences in the rate and degree of motor recovery following this injury.

Aged male and female rhesus monkeys were trained on a task of fine motor function of the hand before undergoing surgery to produce a cortical lesion limited to the hand area representation of the primary motor cortex. Post-operative testing began two weeks after the surgery and continued for 12 weeks. All trials were video recorded and latency to retrieve a reward was quantitatively measured to assess the trajectory of post-operative response latency and grasp pattern compared to pre-operative levels.

Postmortem analysis showed no differences in lesion volume between male and female monkeys. However, female monkeys returned to their pre-operative latency and grasp patterns significantly faster than males.

These findings demonstrate the need for additional studies to further investigate the role of estrogens and other sex hormones that may differentially affect recovery outcomes in the primate brain.