The rotorod test is used to assess motor status in the walking movement of hemi-Parkinson analogue rats.
High speed videoanalysis of the details of movement can provide a source of information about qualitative aspects of walking movements. When walking on a rotorod, animals remain in approximately the same place making repetitive movements of stepping. Thus the task provides a rich source of information on the details of foot stepping movements. Subjects were hemi-Parkinson analogue rats, produced by injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the right nigrostriatal bundle to deplete nigrostriatal dopamine (DA). The present report provides a video analysis illustration of animals previously were filmed from frontal, lateral, and posterior views as they walked (15). Rating scales and frame-by-frame replay of the video records of stepping behavior indicated that the hemi-Parkinson rats were chronically impaired in posture and limb use contralateral to the DA-depletion. The contralateral limbs participated less in initiating and sustaining propulsion than the ipsilateral limbs. These deficits secondary to unilateral DA-depletion show that the rotorod provides a use task for the analysis of stepping movements.
The purpose of the present study was to examine whether the rotorod test for rodent locomotion skill can be used for the qualitative examination of posture, forelimb stepping and hind limb stepping in nervous system injured rats. For the analysis, rats with unilateral DA depletions and control rats were video recorded from front, lateral and posterior views. A rating scale of posture and forelimb movements indicated that stepping movements were chronically impaired following surgery. Examination of limb movements indicat…
Supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Stroke Network, and the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research.