Manual assessment of cylinder rearing behavior is more sensitive than automated gait evaluations in young, male mice post-stroke of the forepaw somatosensory cortex

Cynthia X Li; Esha Kapoor; Wei Chen; Lance M Ward; David D Lee; Amanda Titus; Kate M Reardon; Jin-Moo Lee; Carla M Yuede; Eric C Landsness

doi:10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2025.108325

Manual assessment of cylinder rearing behavior is more sensitive than automated gait evaluations in young, male mice post-stroke of the forepaw somatosensory cortex

J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis. 2025 Jul;34(7):108325. doi: 10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2025.108325. Epub 2025 Apr 21.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
² Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
³ Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Electronic address: landsness@wustl.edu.

PMID: 40268211
PMCID: PMC12124935
DOI: 10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2025.108325

Abstract

Background: Stroke is a leading cause of long-term adult disability. Behavioral testing with animal stroke models, which offers a way to evaluate the effectiveness of new interventions, currently relies on methods that are time- and labor-intensive. Automated behavioral assessments of locomotion and gait have been proposed as an alternative, but it is currently unknown whether they are sensitive enough to assess behavioral deficits following stroke of the forepaw somatosensory cortex. The purpose of this study was to compare a validated, manually assessed behavioral test, cylinder rearing (a measure of forepaw asymmetry during exploration), with automated behavior tests of locomotion in a rodent photothrombotic stroke model.

Methods: We induced a focal photothrombotic stroke in young (12-16 week old) male mice over the left forepaw somatosensory cortex, conducted behavioral testing at acute (48 h) and sub-acute (4 weeks) time points post-stroke, and then correlated behavior deficits to histological measures.

Results: Three automated behavioral tests were used in comparison to cylinder rearing: CatWalk (spontaneous gait), DigiGait (forced treadmill locomotion), and open field (a measure of general locomotor activity). Cylinder rearing testing showed significant forepaw asymmetry between stroke and sham groups acutely and sub-acutely after stroke. Catwalk, DigiGait, and open field tests showed no significant differences between groups. When correlating behavior to histological measures of stroke, the presence of secondary thalamic injury (STI) was associated with forepaw asymmetry on cylinder rearing.

Conclusions: These findings illustrate the need to find alternative automated behavioral measures for mouse photothrombotic stroke of the forepaw somatosensory cortex.

Keywords: CatWalk; Cylinder rearing; DigiGait; Forepaw asymmetry; Open field; Photothrombosis; Secondary thalamic injury; Somatosensory cortex; Stroke; gaIt analysis.

Publication types

Comparative Study

MeSH terms

Age Factors
Animals
Behavior, Animal*
Disease Models, Animal
Forelimb* / innervation
Gait Analysis* / methods
Gait*
Locomotion
Male
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Motor Activity*
Predictive Value of Tests
Reproducibility of Results
Somatosensory Cortex* / pathology
Somatosensory Cortex* / physiopathology
Stroke* / diagnosis
Stroke* / pathology
Stroke* / physiopathology
Stroke* / psychology
Time Factors

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

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