title: Focal cerebral ischemia impairs motivation in a progressive FR schedule of reinforcement in mice.
abstract: Characterization of functional outcome in animal stroke models is essential to improve preclinical drug screenings. Operant procedures showed promising results for the identification of long-lasting functional deficits. In particular, a suppression of lever-pressing in high ratio schedules has been consistently found in rodent models of ischemic stroke. In the present work, we attempted to replicate these isolated observations, by submitting C57Bl/6J mice to a progressive fixed-ratio schedule of reinforcement three weeks after MCAO or sham surgery. Results showed a significant lever-pressing impairment in the MCAO group. Motivational factors (longer post-reinforcement pause, lesser appeal for food rewards) seemed accountable for the deficit, while motor abilities appeared preserved. These findings resemble fatigue-like states experienced by stroke survivors and may be used as long-term measures of behavioral outcome following experimental stroke.
authors.affiliation: Département de Psychologie: Cognition et Comportement, Université de Liège, Belgium. Electronic address: j.linden@ulg.ac.be.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Linden
authors.affiliation: Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution, Université de Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: J-C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Plumier
authors.affiliation: Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution, Université de Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fassotte
authors.affiliation: Département de Psychologie: Cognition et Comportement, Université de Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferrara
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000523:psychology*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology*; D020244:Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology*; D009043:Motor Activity; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule
keywords: MCAO; Mice; Motivation; Operant conditioning; Stroke