title: Age but not sex affects motor recovery after unilateral sensorimotor cortex suction-ablation in the rat.
abstract: Both age and sex can influence recovery after brain injury. To determine the impact of these variables on motor recovery, young (2 month old) and older (5-6 months old) male and female rats were first trained to traverse a narrow elevated beam. Rats then underwent suction-ablation of right sensorimotor cortex or sham operation. Motor recovery was measured by repeated testing on the beam over 3 weeks. Shamoperated rats performed perfectly regardless of age or sex throughout testing. There was no difference in beam-walking scores among the groups of lesioned rats on the first trial 24 hrs. after injury (Kruskal-Wallis H = 0.18, p = 0.98). There was a significant effect of age (two-way ANOVA F1,32 = 29.58, p < 0.0001) but not sex (ANOVA F1,32 = 0.78, p = 0.38) on subsequent recovery. These data show that motor recovery after unilateral injury to the sensorimotor cortex varies with age, but not sex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine (Neurology), Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705, USA.
authors.forename: Larry B.
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bullman