An aged rodent model of stroke recovery: examining the role of the medial prefrontal cortex

Kelly, Meighan H. (2018) An aged rodent model of stroke recovery: examining the role of the medial prefrontal cortex. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

[English] PDF - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Download (1MB)

Abstract

Covert and recurrent strokes increase during aging, emphasizing the importance of using aged rodent models of recurrent stroke. In experiment 1, 25 young and 16 middle-aged Sprague Dawley rats underwent medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) or sham ischemia. There was no overt motor effect of mPFC ischemia, making it a valid model of covert stroke. Notably, middle-aged rats showed decreased overall performance in the staircase reaching test, relative to younger rats. In experiment 2, 34 young and 33 middle-aged rats underwent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) +/- mPFC ischemia. Unlike experiment 1, there was no effect of age on baseline performance. The middle-aged group, however, had less motor impairments and significantly smaller striatal infarcts, suggesting the MCAo strokes were suboptimal. These results highligh important age-related differences in post-stroke performance. Behavioural outcome measures, motivation level and the ischemic model must be carefully considered in developing older animal models of stroke.

Actions (login required)

View Item