Posters
Academic Level (Author 1)
Medical Student
Discipline Track
Biomedical Science
Abstract
Humans often compensate with their unimpaired (non-paretic) forelimb after surviving a stroke. Research in rats suggests that this can be maladaptive after focal motor cortical strokes. Forelimb weakness is understudied in rodent models of stroke.
The purpose of the study is to determine whether behavioral experience with the non-paretic forelimb differentially affects paretic forelimb strength recovery after ischemic injury caused by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo). Because behavioral manipulations can influence patterns of neural connectivity post-stroke, the present study also examined how training with non-paretic limb influenced corticostriatal projections.
After training to proficiency with the preferred forelimb on the Isometric Pull Task, rats underwent MCAo in the hemisphere contralateral to this limb. One week after MCAo, rats were probed for initial impairment level and then assigned to either Non-Paretic Limb Training (NPT) or non-training control conditions for 14 days. Paretic limb performance was probed one day later. All rats then received six weeks of Rehabilitative Training (RT). The anterograde tract tracer BDA was then injected into the lesioned hemisphere.
Training with the non-paretic limb (NPT) does not interfere with paretic limb recovery on the Isometric Pull Task, increase reliance on the impaired forelimb, or influence ipsi corticostriatal axon quantities after MCAo.
Compensatory use of the non-paretic forelimb after strokes involving subcortical damage or cortical damage primarily in the somatosensory region may not be maladaptive for strength. Understanding how behavioral recovery varies with lesion locus could influence clinical management of patients.
Presentation Type
Poster
Recommended Citation
Schaar Valenzuela, Krystal; Cook, Elizabeth; Blaker, Morgan; Cohen, Naomi; Bhandari, Deepali; Jones, Theresa A.; and Schallert, Timothy, "Non-paretic Forelimb Training Does Not Interfere with Recovery of Paretic Forelimb Strength After Experimental Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion" (2023). Research Colloquium. 16.
https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/colloquium/presentation/poster/16
Included in
Non-paretic Forelimb Training Does Not Interfere with Recovery of Paretic Forelimb Strength After Experimental Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion
Humans often compensate with their unimpaired (non-paretic) forelimb after surviving a stroke. Research in rats suggests that this can be maladaptive after focal motor cortical strokes. Forelimb weakness is understudied in rodent models of stroke.
The purpose of the study is to determine whether behavioral experience with the non-paretic forelimb differentially affects paretic forelimb strength recovery after ischemic injury caused by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo). Because behavioral manipulations can influence patterns of neural connectivity post-stroke, the present study also examined how training with non-paretic limb influenced corticostriatal projections.
After training to proficiency with the preferred forelimb on the Isometric Pull Task, rats underwent MCAo in the hemisphere contralateral to this limb. One week after MCAo, rats were probed for initial impairment level and then assigned to either Non-Paretic Limb Training (NPT) or non-training control conditions for 14 days. Paretic limb performance was probed one day later. All rats then received six weeks of Rehabilitative Training (RT). The anterograde tract tracer BDA was then injected into the lesioned hemisphere.
Training with the non-paretic limb (NPT) does not interfere with paretic limb recovery on the Isometric Pull Task, increase reliance on the impaired forelimb, or influence ipsi corticostriatal axon quantities after MCAo.
Compensatory use of the non-paretic forelimb after strokes involving subcortical damage or cortical damage primarily in the somatosensory region may not be maladaptive for strength. Understanding how behavioral recovery varies with lesion locus could influence clinical management of patients.