In humans and other animals, sufficient unilateral damage to the sensorimotor cortex can cause impairments in the opposite forelimb and the development of a hyper-reliance on the nonimpaired limb. This hyper-reliance is adaptive to the extent that it contributes to functional compensation for lesion-induced impairments. We have found that unilateral lesions of the forelimb region of the sensorimotor cortex (FLsmc) in rats, or callosal transections, cause neurons of the opposite motor cortex to become exceptionally responsive to changes in forelimb behavior. This enhanced responsiveness might facilitate learning of compensatory strategies with the nonimpaired forelimb after unilateral FLsmc lesions. The possibility that these lesions facilitate learning with the nonimpaired forelimb was addressed in this study. Rats were required to learn a skilled forelimb reaching task after either unilateral FLsmc lesions or sham operations. The trained limb in animals with lesions was the nonimpaired limb. Compared with shams, rats with unilateral lesions had a greater rate of acquisition and asymptotic performance level on the task, which was especially evident on more difficult trials. Quantitative measures of microtubule associated protein-2 (MAP2) immunostained dendrites indicated an enhancement of training-induced dendritic cytoskeletal changes in the motor cortex opposite lesions. Thus, unilateral FLsmc lesions facilitate learning of at least some types of motor skills using the nonimpaired forelimb as well as some of the neuronal changes associated with this learning. This facilitation could be a substrate underlying behavioral compensation for unilateral FLsmc damage and may contribute to the phenomenon of learned nonuse of the impaired limb.

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The relevance of careful behavioral measures and manipulations in animal research on neural plasticity and brain damage has become increasingly clear. Recent research in adult rats indicates that an understanding of neural restructuring after brain damage requires an understanding of how it is influenced by postinjury behavioral experiences. Other research indicates that optimizing pharmacological and other treatments for brain damage may require their combination with rehabilitative training. Assessing the efficacy of a treatment approach in animal models requires the use of sensitive behavioral measures of functional outcome. In research on restorative plasticity after brain damage, procedures for handling and housing rats should promote the quality of behavioral measures and manipulations.