ABSTRACT
Abstract .................................................................................................................. 312 17.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 312 17.2 General Considerations ................................................................................. 315
17.2.1 Adhesive Removal Test ................................................................... 315 17.2.2 Staircase Test .................................................................................. 316 17.2.3 Beam Walking Test ......................................................................... 316 17.2.4 Corner Test ...................................................................................... 317 17.2.5 Rotarod Test .................................................................................... 317 17.2.6 Open Field Test ............................................................................... 318 17.2.7 Elevated Body Swing Test .............................................................. 319 17.2.8 Cylinder Test ................................................................................... 319 17.2.9 Foot-Fault Test ................................................................................ 320 17.2.10 Gait Analysis .................................................................................. 320
17.3 Neurological Scales ...................................................................................... 321 17.4 Conclusions ................................................................................................... 322 References .............................................................................................................. 323
Assessment of sensorimotor symptoms in ischemia animal models is a crucial issue for translational stroke research. Numerous behavioral tests have been designed to date, but not all of them provide equal, efcient, and valid results. Regarding middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) models, the high variability of the results depends on the type of test and on the extent of brain lesion (cortical, striatal, or both); in addition, some tests are not adequate for long-term studies. We highly recommend choosing a battery of sensorimotor and cognitive tests that, in combination, are able to discriminate chronic recovery and compensatory mechanisms learned.
