Rodent Gymnastics: Neurobehavioral Assays in Ischemic Stroke

• Published in: Molecular neurobiology Vol. 54; no. 9; pp. 6750 - 6761
• Main Authors: Nampoothiri, Sreekala S., Potluri, Tanvi, Subramanian, Harshith, Krishnamurthy, Rajanikant G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-11-2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal behavior; Animals; Anxiety; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Brain Ischemia - diagnosis; Brain Ischemia - psychology; Cell Biology; Clinical trials; Cognitive ability; Depression; Exploratory Behavior - physiology; Hand Strength - physiology; Ischemia; Mental depression; Mice; Motor Activity - physiology; Neurobiology; Neurology; Neurosciences; Rats; Rodents; Rotarod Performance Test - methods; Rotarod Performance Test - psychology; Sensorimotor system; Social behavior; Social interactions; Stroke; Stroke - diagnosis; Stroke - psychology; Behavioral; Cognitive; Ischemic stroke; Rodents; Sensorimotor
• ISSN: 0893-7648; 1559-1182
• DOI: 10.1007/s12035-016-0195-6

Despite years of research, most preclinical trials on ischemic stroke have remained unsuccessful owing to poor methodological and statistical standards leading to “translational roadblocks.” Various behavioral tests have been established to evaluate traits such as sensorimotor function, cognitive and social interactions, and anxiety-like and depression-like behavior. A test’s validity is of cardinal importance as it influences the chance of a successful translation of preclinical results to clinical settings. The mission of choosing a behavioral test for a particular project is, therefore, imperative and the present review aims to provide a structured way to evaluate rodent behavioral tests with implications in ischemic stroke.