Lickometry: a novel and sensitive method for assessing functional deficits in rats after stroke

Ahmed, Jewel; Dwyer, Dominic E.; Farr, Tracy D.; Harrison, David J.; Dunnett, Stephen B.; Trueman, Rebecca C.

Abstract

The need for sensitive, easy to administer assessments of long-term functional deficits is crucial in pre-clinical stroke research. In the present study, we introduce lickometry (lick microstructure analysis) as a precise method to assess sensorimotor deficits up to 40 days after middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats. Impairments in drinking efficiency compared to controls, and a compensatory increase in the number of drinking clusters were observed. This highlights the utility of this easy to administer task in assessing subtle, long-term deficits, which could be likened to oral deficits in patients.

Citation

Ahmed, J., Dwyer, D. E., Farr, T. D., Harrison, D. J., Dunnett, S. B., & Trueman, R. C. (in press). Lickometry: a novel and sensitive method for assessing functional deficits in rats after stroke. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 37(3), https://doi.org/10.1177/0271678X16684141

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 21, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Jan 6, 2017
• Deposit Date: Nov 18, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 6, 2017
• Journal: Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism
• Print ISSN: 0271-678X
• Electronic ISSN: 1559-7016
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 37
• Issue: 3
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0271678X16684141
• Keywords: Animal Models; Behavior (rodent); Experimental; Focal Ischemia; Stroke
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/841624
• Publisher URL: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0271678X16684141