Thifault S, Girouard N, Lalonde R
Hôtel-Dieu Hospital Research Center, Neurology Service, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Brain Res Bull. 1996;41(6):385-90. doi: 10.1016/s0361-9230(96)00072-x.
Lurcher mutant mice, characterized by massive degeneration of cerebellar granule and Purkinje cells, were compared to normal mice of the same background strain in three sensorimotor learning tasks requiring climbing skills. In the coat-hanger test, Lurcher mutants were deficient in forepaw contact time and four paw latencies. Improvement over time was weak for both groups. For latencies before reaching the halfway point or the top of the diagonal bar in the same apparatus, Lurcher mutants showed gradual improvement while normal mice appeared to lose motivation to perform the task. In a rope-climbing test, a slight reduction in movement time was detected in Lurcher mutants with repeated trials, whereas the performance of normal mice was stable over time. In a water escape pole-climbing test, Lurcher mutants were impaired relative to controls. Both groups decreased the time required before grasping the pole across days of testing. The number of segments climbed was increased in Lurcher mutants across days. These results illustrate that massive cerebellar damage does not eliminate the possibility of acquiring climbing skills, but under some conditions limit performance.
蹒跚突变小鼠的特征是小脑颗粒细胞和浦肯野细胞大量退化，在三项需要攀爬技能的感觉运动学习任务中，将其与相同背景品系的正常小鼠进行比较。在衣架测试中，蹒跚突变小鼠在前爪接触时间和四爪潜伏期方面存在缺陷。两组随时间的改善都很微弱。对于在同一装置中到达对角杆中点或顶部之前的潜伏期，蹒跚突变小鼠表现出逐渐改善，而正常小鼠似乎失去了执行任务的动力。在爬绳测试中，反复试验后发现蹒跚突变小鼠的运动时间略有减少，而正常小鼠的表现随时间保持稳定。在水逃生爬杆测试中，蹒跚突变小鼠相对于对照组受损。两组在测试的几天中都减少了抓住杆子之前所需的时间。蹒跚突变小鼠在几天内攀爬的段数增加。这些结果表明，大量小脑损伤并不能消除获得攀爬技能的可能性，但在某些情况下会限制表现。
