Swimming as a method for assessing motor cortex integrity in the rat.
Rats were tested on 6 measures of swimming behavior 1, 2 and 4 weeks after sham operations or bilateral motor cortex lesions that damaged the forelimb areas and axons controlling the axial musculature. Rats with lesions performed more forelimb kicks and showed larger body angles than control animals. Number of hindlimb kicks and speed were within normal limits. Thus, some measures of swimming can be affected by small motor cortex lesions that spare the hindlimb projections.
D000818:Animals; D005552:Forelimb / Q000294:innervation; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000294:innervation; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology; D009115:Muridae; D051381:Rats; D013550:Swimming