Neuroscience Research Unit, Puerta de Hierro Hospital, Madrid, Spain.
J Neurosci Methods. 2010 Apr 30;188(1):53-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2010.01.036. Epub 2010 Feb 6.
Injuries of the Central Nervous System (CNS) cause devastating and irreversible losses of function. In order to analyze the deficits subsequent to brain injury it is necessary to use behavioral tests which evaluate cerebral dysfunction. In this study, we describe a new tool, the Video-Tracking-Box (VTB) linked to Smart software. This new method adequately quantifies parameters related to locomotor activity and orientation in brain-injured rats. This method has been used in our laboratory in order to measure behavioral outcome after brain injury caused by intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in adult Wistar rats. In our experimental model, ICH was induced by stereotactic injection of 0.5U of collagenase type IV in striatum. ICH injured rats decreased its motor coordination and presented deficits in cognitive memory. VTB-Smart test was sensitive to chronic locomotor and orientation dysfunction, and it was performed between 1 and 5 months after ICH. Our results revealed a significant increase in motor latency and loss of spatial orientation in the damaged-animals compared with intact animals. The data demonstrate that our VTB, joined to Smart software, offers a reliable measure to assess motor dysfunction and orientation after brain injury.
中枢神经系统（CNS）损伤会导致功能的毁灭性和不可逆转的丧失。为了分析脑损伤后的缺陷，有必要使用评估大脑功能障碍的行为测试。在这项研究中，我们描述了一种新的工具，即与 Smart 软件相关联的视频跟踪箱（VTB）。这种新方法能够充分量化与脑损伤大鼠运动活动和定向相关的参数。本方法已在我们实验室中用于测量成年 Wistar 大鼠脑内出血（ICH）引起的脑损伤后的行为结果。在我们的实验模型中，ICH 通过立体定向注射 0.5U 型 IV 胶原酶在纹状体中诱导。ICH 损伤大鼠的运动协调性降低，并表现出认知记忆缺陷。VTB-Smart 测试对慢性运动和定向功能障碍敏感，并且在 ICH 后 1 至 5 个月之间进行。我们的结果显示，与完整动物相比，损伤动物的运动潜伏期显著增加，空间定向丧失。数据表明，我们的 VTB 与 Smart 软件相结合，为评估脑损伤后的运动功能障碍和定向提供了可靠的测量方法。
