title: Colour-coded pellets increase the sensitivity of the staircase test to differentiate skilled forelimb performances of control and 6-hydroxydopamine lesioned rats.
abstract: The Montoya staircase test has previously been used to study the skilled forelimb performance of mice and rats following lesions and cell implants in different parts of the central nervous system. Here we describe a modification of the original test design which introduces differently coloured food pellets for each step, and present the results of the new and modified method. In this study unilaterally 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesioned rats and healthy control rats were used. The new evaluation of reaching and grasping movements takes into consideration the various levels of reaching difficulty. The coloured food pellets code for different steps of the staircase. The comparison between the original versus the modified test methods revealed significant differences most prominently on the lower steps. It is important to notice that the pattern of grasping movements in the hemiparkinsonian rats changes from precise reaching (prior to lesion) to shuffling and unsuccessfully trying to reach pellets. The observation of this change in behaviour would not have been obtained through the evaluation of the original staircase test. In summary, the modified staircase test introduces a colour-coded pellet system which obviously increases the test sensitivity and discloses new insights into the skilled forelimb use in a rat model of Parkinson's disease. It may therefore become a valuable tool in future studies related to plasticity-induced changes in skilled forelimb reaching and grasping movements.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Neurosurgery, Department of Stereotactic Neurosurgery, University Hospital Freiburg-Neurocentre, Breisacher Str. 64, D-79106 Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kloth
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Loettrich
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nikkhah
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001058:Apomorphine / Q000494:pharmacology; D001070:Appetitive Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology; D004435:Eating / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D005552:Forelimb / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D016627:Oxidopamine; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D016627:Oxidopamine; D001058:Apomorphine