Sensorimotor impairment and recovery of function in brain-damaged rats: reappearance of symptoms during old age.
Following unilateral lesions in the posterior-lateral hypothalamic area, rats displayed impaired orienting behavior to tactile stimuli placed on the contralateral side of the body, whereas sham-operated animals showed no sensorimotor impairment. Recovery from this impairment occurred during the first postoperative month. As the animals became senescent, there was a reinstatement of contralateral sensorimotor impairment in the brain-damaged animals. Although preliminary, these data may have important implications for the study of aging-dependent neurological and psychiatric disorders.
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004435:Eating; D007026:Hypothalamic Area, Lateral / Q000293:injuries / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology