This study investigates the effects of hemiparkinsonism on motor control in rats using a two-compartment staircase box. The experiment assesses the preference for paw usage in response to food pellets, highlighting the impact of dopamine neuron lesions in the right hemisphere of the brain.
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'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's left paw.
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.
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