Behavioral changes after focal cerebral ischemia by left middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats

Behavioral changes after occlusion of the left middle cerebral artery (MCA) in rats were investigated for 16 weeks. Impairment of motor coordination and incidence of neurological deficits including hemiplegia and abnormal posture were present for the first 2 and 4 weeks after MCA occlusion, respectively. Learning behavior in one-trial passive avoidance task was disturbed for the entire 16-week period when rats were trained at days 3 after MCA occlusion. Reacquisition was also impaired when rats were retrained on 8 weeks after MCA occlusion. Except for synchronized EEG at days 2 after MCA occlusion, significant changes in spontaneous movement and EEG were not observed in the MCA-occluded group. These results suggest that this rat model of MCA-occlusion is useful for quantitatively measuring functional changes in chronic phase of focal cerebral ischemia.