The sunflower seed test: a simple procedure to evaluate forelimb motor dysfunction after brain ischemia

Gómez, Clarisa Villegas; Santiago‐Mejia, Jacinto; Ventura-Martı́nez, Rosa; Rodríguez, Rodolfo

doi:10.1002/ddr.20117

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Many previous studies have found that CNS lesions can disrupt the movements used in food handling behavior in rodents (e.g., Castro, 1972;Kalil and Schneider, 1975;Kolb et al, 1977;Kolb and Holmes, 1983;Whishaw et al, 1992;Salamone et al, 1993;Whishaw and Coles, 1996;Whishaw et al, 1997;Gomez et al, 2006). The present results are largely consistent with these previous findings.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…In addition to the use of food deprivation, their analysis included stages preparatory to eating (e.g., picking up and flipping the pasta). The time to eat sunflower seeds was increased after cerebral ischemia in mice (Gomez et al, 2006) and after MCAO in rats (Gonzalez and Kolb, 2003), and these studies also used food restriction and included preconsummatory behaviors in the time measurement.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Vermicelli Handling Test: A simple quantitative measure of dexterous forepaw function in rats

Allred

Adkins

Woodlee

et al. 2008

Journal of Neuroscience Methods

126

130

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Loss of function in the hands occurs with many brain disorders, but there are few measures of skillful forepaw use in rats available to model these impairments that are both sensitive and simple to administer. Whishaw and Coles (1996) previously described the dexterous manner in which rats manipulate food items with their paws, including thin pieces of pasta. We set out to develop a measure of this food handling behavior that would be quantitative, easy to administer, sensitive to the effects of damage to sensory and motor systems of the CNS and useful for identifying the side of lateralized impairments. When rats handle 7 cm lengths of vermicelli, they manipulate the pasta by repeatedly adjusting the forepaw hold on the pasta piece. As operationally defined, these adjustments can be easily identified and counted by an experimenter without specialized equipment. After unilateral sensorimotor cortex (SMC) lesions, transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and striatal dopamine depleting (6-hydroxydopamine, 6-OHDA) lesions in adult rats, there were enduring reductions in adjustments made with the contralateral forepaw. Additional pasta handling characteristics distinguished between the lesion types. MCAO and 6-OHDA lesions increased the frequency of several identified atypical handling patterns. Severe dopamine depletion increased eating time and adjustments made with the ipsilateral forepaw. However, contralateral forepaw adjustment number most sensitively detected enduring impairments across lesion types. Because of its ease of administration and sensitivity to lateralized impairments in skilled forepaw use, this measure may be useful in rat models of upper extremity impairment.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Vermicelli Handling Test: A simple quantitative measure of dexterous forepaw function in rats

Allred

Adkins

Woodlee

et al. 2008

Journal of Neuroscience Methods

126

130

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The inability to successfully reach the platform was apparently due to motor impairments in both their limbs: in their hindlimbs during swimming; and in their forelimbs during climbing of the platform. These observations, together with the results of previous studies showing that SCAS produces forelimb flexion with decreased resistance to lateral push and circling behavior, support the idea that in mice, SCAS produces a neurological deficit with hemiparesis or hemiplegia [11,19]. It is clear, however, that other factors, such as fatigue and/or decreased motivation to fulfill the task, that were not explored in this study, could also be involved in the increased time to reach the platform.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Swimming Performance: A Strategy to Evaluate Motor Dysfunction after Brain Ischemia in Mice

Gómez¹,

Delgado-García

Santiago‐Mejia³

et al. 2013

JBBS

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We have previously reported that sequential common artery sectioning (SCAS) in mice produces a reproducible pattern of mortality, extensive brain damage and a wide range of measurable neurobehavioral alterations that include motor incoordination and forelimb flexion. The present study describes a comprehensive method to assess motor functional outcome after brain ischemia produced by SCAS using swimming behavior. We found that after the second artery occlusion the time for completion of the swimming task significantly increased and the swimming pattern alterations observed in the ischemic mice showed no evidence of recovery (up to 96 h). We view the swimming performance strategy described here as a sensitive, simple and economic procedure to assess motor performance after brain ischemia.

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“…Second, following completion of the robbing-and-dodging task, these rats were tested on a task requiring fine motor skills of the forelimbs, which are known to be impaired following mPFC damage (Kolb & Whishaw, 1983; Whishaw et al, 1992). The motor task used was the sunflower seed-husking test, which provides a simple measure for motor disruption in the upper limbs and forepaws (Gomez, Santiago-Mejia, Ventura-Martinez, & Rodriguez, 2006; Whishaw, Sarna, & Pellis, 1998). Briefly, once a rat receives a sunflower seed, it will grasp it with its forepaws and use its digits to manipulate the seed while ripping at the shell with its teeth.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of the medial prefrontal cortex in regulating interanimal coordination of movements.

Himmler¹,

Bell²,

Horwood³

et al. 2014

Behavioral Neuroscience

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Rats with juvenile play experience display a greater ability in coordinating their movements with social partners than those deprived of such experience, and this may be due to the play-induced neural restructuring of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). The present study investigates the role of the mPFC in interanimal coordination. Rats with and without bilateral mPFC lesions were tested on a robbing-and-dodging task. This food protection task measures the ability of rats to protect pieces of food by gaining and maintaining an interanimal distance between themselves and the rat attempting to rob the food. Given that mPFC lesions have been associated with sensory and motor deficits, the same rats were also subjected to a task to measure skilled motor movements. Rats with bilateral mPFC lesions had more food stolen and displayed an inability to maintain interanimal distance with partner, but did not exhibit any motor or sensory deficits. These findings suggest that the mPFC is involved in interanimal coordination and that the play-induced neural restructuring of this area may account for the enhanced coordination seen in rats with prior play experience.

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The sunflower seed test: a simple procedure to evaluate forelimb motor dysfunction after brain ischemia

Cited by 12 publications

References 19 publications

The Vermicelli Handling Test: A simple quantitative measure of dexterous forepaw function in rats

The Vermicelli Handling Test: A simple quantitative measure of dexterous forepaw function in rats

Swimming Performance: A Strategy to Evaluate Motor Dysfunction after Brain Ischemia in Mice

The role of the medial prefrontal cortex in regulating interanimal coordination of movements.

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