Creative Biolabs conducts a wide range of behavioral tests to assess motor impairments across different models of the central nervous system (CNS), including but not limited to Parkinson's disease, Huntington disease, traumatic brain injury, stroke, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. These behavioral tests evaluate different aspects of motor deficits, including motor coordination and balance (e.g., Pole test), locomotor activity (e.g., cylinder test), and muscular strength (e.g., wire suspension test).
Mann et al. 2015
Pole Test
The pole test evaluates the ability of the mouse to grasp and maneuver on a pole in order to descend to its home cage. Firstly, mice are trained to complete the pole task over two consecutive days. In the test session, mice are placed with their head oriented upward on top of the pole for five trials. The animals will often naturally orient themselves downward and descend the length of the pole in order to return to their home cage. The time required for the animals to orient themselves facing in a downward direction (time to turn) and to descend to the base of the pole (total time minus time to turn) is recorded for five trials. It is a widely used test to assess basal ganglia related movement disorders in mice. For example, MPTP-treated mice take longer to turn and descend the pole, and these impairments can be reversed by L-DOPA.
Wire Suspension Test
The principle of this test is the degeneration of neurons in basal ganglia circuits that cause motor deficits. This wire suspension task is used to check muscle strength and prehensile reflex (capacity of the animal to hold a tightly stretched horizontal wire with its forepaws and to remain suspended on the wire). The suspension time (time to drop from the wire) is recorded, with which the neuromuscular abnormalities of motor strength can be detected.
Wire Suspension Test (Dorchies et al. 2013)
Cylinder Test (Mann et al. 2015)
Cylinder Test
This test can be used to measure spontaneous movements and asymmetry in limb use. The animal is placed in a small transparent cylinder to encourage vertical exploration and landing after each rearing. This test was initially designed to detect forelimb impairments in rats with unilateral 6-OHDA lesions (a model of dopaminergic lesions) but has also been successfully utilized in models of traumatic brain injury, ALS, and stroke.
Catalepsy
This test is defined by failure to correct an externally imposed posture over a prolonged period of time. The block test and bar test (commonly used in mice and rats, respectively) are two common tests of catalepsy. In this method, front paws of animals are placed on a bar over 6 cm and then 9 cm. The time retention of rats in this imposed posture is measured as a bar test elapsed time. Both forepaws of the rats are put on the bar in a half-rearing position. Latency of the animal to removal of the paw is recorded.
Creative Biolabs also conducts other behavioral tests for motor function assessment:
Creative Biolabs provides highly customized behavioral tests to suit specific scientific needs. Moreover, new behavioral tests of motor function are constantly developed and validated.
As an undisputed specialist in neurological disease drug development, Creative Biolabs has an extensive range of rodent neurological disease models, which are widely used for drug efficacy studies combined with different behavioral tests. If you are interested, click the links for more detailed description.
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References
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