title: Contralateral cortical role on functional recovery in a rat model of hemiplegia.
abstract: The role of the contralateral cerebral cortical plasticity in functional recovery after cerebral infarction is controversial. To clarify this role, we made a second contralateral cortical infarction after recovery from the first cerebral infarction. To produce the first infarction, Wistar rats were intravenously injected with Rose Bengal to the sensorimotor area of the right hemisphere of the cerebral cortex under green-light irradiation. Two weeks after the first hemiplegia, a secondary infarction was induced in the left cerebral cortex. Functional recovery was evaluated in a beam-walking test. Hemiplegia observed 1 day after both the first and second infarctions was given a score of 1. At 14 days after the first infarction, the average recovery score (± standard error) was 6.8 ± 0.1. In contrast, functional recovery was slower after the second infarction, reaching an average score of only 3.5 ± 0.5 after 14 days. Therefore, recovery after the contralateral secondary infarction was slower than that from the first, and received a lower recovery score compared to the recovery after the first infarction. These results suggest that the undamaged contralateral cortex plays an important role in motor recovery after hemiplegia caused by cerebral infarction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University.
authors.forename: Katsuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University.
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ohwatashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University.
authors.forename: Yurie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kamikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University.
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yoshida
keywords: animal model; photochemical infarction; recovery; stroke