Name: staircase test for motor function assessment in a hemiparkinsonian rat
Uploaded: 2025-03-31T15:00:47.000+00:00
Duration: 1 min 10 s
Description: Source: Rattka, M, et al., A Novel Approach to Assess Motor Outcome of Deep Brain Stimulation Effects in the Hemiparkinsonian Rat: Staircase and Cylinder ...

staircase test for motor function assessment in a hemiparkinsonian rat

Staircase Test for Motor Function Assessment in a Hemiparkinsonian Rat

First, prepare a clear plastic glass staircase box by cleaning the box with 0.1% acetic acid. The staircase box is a 2-compartment box with a raised platform and 2 stairs in a narrow compartment. The left steps on the stairs can be reached only with the left paw. The right steps can only be reached with the right paw. This is a standard commercially available box, but if the rats are to be stimulated via cable, use a high box without a lid.
Now, remove the staircase and fill the wells on each step with eight 45-milligram pellets. Then, replace the staircase and put 8 additional pellets on the heightened platform. Now, place the rat in the box, and after 5 minutes, return the rat to its home cage.
Score how many pellets were eaten from the platform. Before the next test, wash the staircase and reload it with pellets. The acquisition phase should be performed once per day for 3 days. Over the next 3 days, run the free choice phase of the test. It is executed just like the acquisition phase, but now score how many pellets were eaten from the 2 staircases.

staircase-test-for-motor-function-assessment-in-a-hemiparkinsonian-rat

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JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments

Neuroscience

Neuropathology

Neuromuscular Disorders

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All procedures involving animal models have been reviewed by the local institutional animal care committee and the JoVE veterinary review board.
1. Staircase Test (Figure 1)
<ol>
	<li>Acquisition Phase&#8203;
	<ol>
		<li>One day prior to the training familiarize the animals with the pellets used in the Staircase test.
		<ol>
			<li>Optional: To increase the animal&#39;s motivation use a dietary restriction (10-15 g of standard laboratory chow to maintain body weight at 90% of the free feeding level). However, this is not obligatory to achieve a positive training effect. This study was conducted without food restriction.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
		<li>Prepare a clear plastic glass staircase box (height: 34.5 cm, length: 35.5 cm, width: 12 cm, and narrow compartment 6 cm) by cleaning the box with a 0.1% acetic acid solution. NOTE: The staircase box is a two-compartment box with a raised platform and two stairs in the narrow compartment. The left steps on the stairs in the narrow compartment can be reached only with the left paw, and the right steps only with the right paw. 
		NOTE: &#160;The standard staircase boxes consist of two compartments with a lid. If they are to be used for experiments with rats stimulated via cable, use a high box without a lid.</li>
		<li>Remove the staircase and fill the wells on each step with eight 45 mg pellets.</li>
		<li>Insert the staircase and put eight additional pellets on the heightened platform.</li>
		<li>Place the rat in the transport box.</li>
		<li>Transport the rat from the home cage to the staircase box using the transport box.</li>
		<li>Place the rat in the staircase box (Figure 2).</li>
		<li>After five minutes, remove the animal from the staircase box and put it back into the home cage using the transport box.</li>
		<li>Note how many pellets were eaten from the platform and (eventually) from the right and left staircases.</li>
		<li>Refill the staircase by filling the wells on each step with eight 45 mg pellets.</li>
		<li>Clean the staircase box with a 0.1% acetic acid solution and place the additional pellets on the platform.</li>
		<li>Repeat this procedure (acquisition phase) three days in a row. 
		NOTE: &#160;All experiments described were performed on male Sprague Dawley rats. The duration of the different training modules can differ in rats of different strains, sexes, and vender.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Free Choice Test
	<ol>
		<li>Clean the staircase box with a 0.1% acetic acid solution.</li>
		<li>Remove the staircase and fill the wells on each step with eight 45 mg pellets.</li>
		<li>Place the rat in the transport box.</li>
		<li>Transport the rat from the home cage to the staircase box using the transport box.</li>
		<li>Place the rat in the staircase box.</li>
		<li>After five minutes, remove the animal from the staircase box and put it back into the home cage using the transport box. 
		Note how many pellets were eaten from the right and left staircase.</li>
		<li>NOTE: If the animals still have problems with grasping pellets, add some more on the platform where they can be easily reached.</li>
		<li>Refill the staircase by filling the wells on each step with eight 45 mg pellets.</li>
		<li>Clean the staircase box with a 0.1% acetic acid solution for the next animal.</li>
		<li>Repeat this procedure (free choice phase) three days in a row. 
		NOTE: The presented results were obtained by training conducted without a resting period between modules. Some groups prefer a resting day for consolidation, to support the training process.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Forced Choice Test&#8203;
	<ol>
		<li>Clean the staircase box with a 0.1% acetic acid solution.</li>
		<li>Remove the staircase and fill the wells on each step on the left staircase with eight (first three days of the module) or four (consecutive three days of the module) 45 mg pellets.
		<ol>
			<li>Perform the forced choice test on the side, where the impairment will occur. 
			NOTE: We perform the Parkinson&#39;s lesion on the right hemisphere and therefore train selectively the left paw.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
		<li>Place the rat in the transport box.</li>
		<li>Transport the rat from the home cage to the staircase box using the transport box.</li>
		<li>Place the rat in the staircase box.</li>
		<li>After five minutes, remove the animal from the staircase box and put it back into the home cage using the transport box.</li>
		<li>Note how many pellets were eaten from the left staircase.</li>
		<li>Refill the staircase by filling the wells on each step with eight or four 45 mg pellets (the number of pellets depends on the training day).</li>
		<li>Clean the staircase box with a 0.1% acetic acid solution for the next animal.</li>
		<li>Repeat this procedure (forced choice phase) six days in a row.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Data Acquisition
	<ol>
		<li>Perform the experiment as described for the forced choice module (four pellets in each well on the left staircase) on two consecutive days. Calculate the success rate (number of pellets eaten) as a mean of the two days.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Staircase box witout lid</td>
			<td>Glas Keil, Germany</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>custom made</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dustless precision pellets, 45 mg</td>
			<td>Bio Serv</td>
			<td>F0021</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Source: Rattka, M, et al., <a href="https://app.jove.com/v/53951">A Novel Approach to Assess Motor Outcome of Deep Brain Stimulation Effects in the Hemiparkinsonian Rat: Staircase and Cylinder Test.</a> J. Vis. Exp. (2016).
This video demonstrates the staircase test to assess motor function in a hemiparkinsonian rat with a right brain lesion. The lesion disrupts dopamine signaling, impairing left paw control, which results in more pellets remaining on the left stairs, indicating motor dysfunction.

<img alt="Figure 1" src="/files/ftp_upload/23195/23195_Figure1.jpg" /> 
Figure 1: Staircase test setup. The staircase box arranged with pellets on the left staircase. (A) side view, (B) view from above.
<img alt="Figure 2" src="/files/ftp_upload/23195/23195_Figure2.jpg" /> 
Figure 2: Staircase test. A hemiparkinsonian rat during staircase test.
(NOTE: crop t...

Source: Rattka, M, et al., A Novel Approach to Assess Motor Outcome of Deep Brain Stimulation Effects in the Hemiparkinsonian Rat: Staircase and Cylinder ...

Take a two-compartment staircase box featuring a raised platform and a socket for stairs on both sides.
Arrange the food pellets on the platform and both the stairs and insert it inside the box.
Introduce a rat with hemiparkinsonism, a condition with a lesion in the right hemisphere of the brain.
The rat reaches toward the pellets and uses both paws to grasp the food.
The right hemisphere of the brain regulates the movements on the left side of the body.
The lesion in the right hemisphere damages dopamine-producing neurons, decreasing dopamine or excitatory neurotransmitter levels and reducing signal transmission to the neighboring neurons.
This impairs the motor control of the left paw&#39;s movement.
As a result, the rat prefers using the right paw more than the left one.
Remove the rat and count the remaining pellets on both stairs. More pellets on the left stairs indicate impaired motor function of the rat&#39;s left paw.

7 ビュー. Staircase Test for Motor Function Assessment in a Hemiparkinsonian Rat

ビデオ: Staircase Test for Motor Function Assessment in a Hemiparkinsonian Rat - 実験

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Clinical efficacy is assessed after a minimum period of stabilization (5 min) through the unblinded and blinded video assessment of motor function using a selection of scores from the Unified Parkinson&#39;s Rating Scale (UPDRS). Recent work has demonstrated a reduction in power consumption with aDBS as well as an improvement in clinical scores compared to conventional DBS. Chronic aDBS could now be trialed in Parkinsonism.

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In order to visualize the global and downstream neuronal responses to deep brain stimulation (DBS) at various targets, we have developed a protocol for using blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to image rodents with simultaneous DBS. DBS fMRI presents a number of technical challenges, including accuracy of electrode implantation, MR artifacts created by the electrode, choice of anesthesia and paralytic to minimize any neuronal effects while simultaneously eliminating animal motion, and maintenance of physiological parameters, deviation from which can confound the BOLD signal.&#160;Our laboratory has developed a set of procedures that are capable of overcoming most of these possible issues. For electrical stimulation, a homemade tungsten bipolar microelectrode is used, inserted stereotactically at the stimulation site in the anesthetized subject. In preparation for imaging, rodents are fixed on a plastic headpiece and transferred to the magnet bore. For sedation and paralysis during scanning, a cocktail of dexmedetomidine and pancuronium is continuously infused, along with a minimal dose of isoflurane; this preparation minimizes the BOLD ceiling effect of volatile anesthetics. In this example experiment, stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) produces BOLD responses which are observed primarily in ipsilateral cortical regions, centered in motor cortex. Simultaneous DBS and fMRI allows the unambiguous modulation of neural circuits dependent on stimulation location and stimulation parameters, and permits observation of neuronal modulations free of regional bias. This technique may be used to explore the downstream effects of modulating neural circuitry at nearly any brain region, with implications for both experimental and clinical DBS.

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Staircase Test for Motor Function Assessment in a Hemiparkinsonian Rat

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Staircase Test for Motor Function Assessment in a Hemiparkinsonian Rat