Disturbance of motoric function as behavioral measure of impaired cerebral circulation in mice

Aim of the present experiments was to elaborate an experimental model exhibiting the functional consequences of a moderate impairment of cerebral circulation sensitive enough for testing the long-term cerebroprotective effect of different drugs. In preliminary experiments mice survived unilateral occlusion of the carotid artery. This intervention, however, severely impaired the motor skill of the animals as measured by their activity on the rotating treadmill. Motimeter activity was also diminished following unilateral carotid occlusion. Somewhat unexpectedly, a more complex pattern of learned behavior in a one-trial learning passive avoidance paradigm was only modestly affected by unilateral carotid occlusion. Papaverine (2.0 mg/kg) normalized the motor incoordination measured on the rotating treadmill. The data suggest that impaired motoric function, as a result of unilateral carotid occlusion, might be a useful experimental tool to analyse functional consequences of impaired cerebral circulation and a sensitive test for screening of drugs with presumed cerebroprotective action.