Video-Tracking-Box linked to Smart software as a tool for evaluation of locomotor activity and orientation in brain-injured rats

Injuries of the Central Nervous System (CNS) cause devastating and irreversible losses of function. In order to analyze the deficits subsequent to brain injury it is necessary to use behavioral tests which evaluate cerebral dysfunction. In this study, we describe a new tool, the Video-Tracking-Box (VTB) linked to Smart software. This new method adequately quantifies parameters related to locomotor activity and orientation in brain-injured rats. This method has been used in our laboratory in order to measure behavioral outcome after brain injury caused by intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in adult Wistar rats. In our experimental model, ICH was induced by stereotactic injection of 0.5 U of collagenase type IV in striatum. ICH injured rats decreased its motor coordination and presented deficits in cognitive memory. VTB-Smart test was sensitive to chronic locomotor and orientation dysfunction, and it was performed between 1 and 5 months after ICH. Our results revealed a significant increase in motor latency and loss of spatial orientation in the damaged-animals compared with intact animals. The data demonstrate that our VTB, joined to Smart software, offers a reliable measure to assess motor dysfunction and orientation after brain injury. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.