Permanency of gait improvement induced by vestibular stimulation in the mutant mouse staggerer. 1985

J M Guastavino, and G Goodall

Among the several methods that have been used to investigate the impact of environmental enrichment, on the behavior of an animal, the use of behaviorally deficient mutant mice has been especially useful. The use of this model allows one to investigate functional recovery compared to a known baseline (the normal animal) without the trauma and imprecision associated with surgical intervention. The present study extends a previous investigation that demonstrated a significant improvement in certain measures of the gait of the cerebellar mutant mouse staggerer, as a result of daily vestibular, muscular and visual stimulation. The results of the present study concerned the durability of that observed improvement. No clear-cut conclusion as to the permanency of the stimulation's effects could be drawn, because results differed according to the measures used. When tested two months after the end of the stimulation period the mutants ran more slowly, with as many "errors" as unstimulated mutants, leading one to infer a deleterious effect of the stimulation. On the other hand, if one considers only the number of "errors" during the test, one may conclude that early stimulation has a permanent advantageous effect of increasing the staggerer's receptivity to further stimulation. Other measures lead to more ambiguous conclusions. Finally, it is argued that even though true improvement in the staggerer's gait can be inferred from these results, and that at least some aspects of that improvement seem to be long-lasting, the generality of the findings cannot validly be extended beyond the precise experimental conditions.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D008818 Mice, Neurologic Mutants Mice which carry mutant genes for neurologic defects or abnormalities. Lurcher Mice,Nervous Mice,Reeler Mice,Staggerer Mice,Weaver Mice,Chakragati Mice,Chakragati Mouse,Lurcher Mouse,Mice, Neurological Mutants,Mouse, Neurologic Mutant,Mouse, Neurological Mutant,Nervous Mouse,Neurologic Mutant Mice,Neurological Mutant Mouse,Reeler Mouse,Staggerer Mouse,Weaver Mouse,ckr Mutant Mice,Mice, Chakragati,Mice, Lurcher,Mice, Nervous,Mice, Neurologic Mutant,Mice, Reeler,Mice, Staggerer,Mice, Weaver,Mice, ckr Mutant,Mouse, Chakragati,Mouse, Lurcher,Mouse, Nervous,Mouse, Reeler,Mouse, Staggerer,Mouse, Weaver,Mutant Mice, Neurologic,Mutant Mice, ckr,Mutant Mouse, Neurologic,Neurologic Mutant Mouse
D010775 Photic Stimulation Investigative technique commonly used during ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY in which a series of bright light flashes or visual patterns are used to elicit brain activity. Stimulation, Photic,Visual Stimulation,Photic Stimulations,Stimulation, Visual,Stimulations, Photic,Stimulations, Visual,Visual Stimulations
D004780 Environment, Controlled A state in which the environs of hospitals, laboratories, domestic and animal housing, work places, spacecraft, and other surroundings are under technological control with regard to air conditioning, heating, lighting, humidity, ventilation, and other ambient features. The concept includes control of atmospheric composition. (From Jane's Aerospace Dictionary, 3d ed) Clean Rooms,Laminar Air-Flow Areas,Controlled Environment,Area, Laminar Air-Flow,Clean Room,Controlled Environments,Environments, Controlled,Laminar Air Flow Areas,Laminar Air-Flow Area,Room, Clean
D005260 Female Females
D005684 Gait Manner or style of walking. Gaits
D000161 Acoustic Stimulation Use of sound to elicit a response in the nervous system. Auditory Stimulation,Stimulation, Acoustic,Stimulation, Auditory
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D001522 Behavior, Animal The observable response an animal makes to any situation. Autotomy Animal,Animal Behavior,Animal Behaviors
D012399 Rotation Motion of an object in which either one or more points on a line are fixed. It is also the motion of a particle about a fixed point. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed) Clinorotation,Clinorotations,Rotations

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