Unilateral lesion of fastigial nucleus in Wistar albino rats and its eff ect on motor coordination - A preliminary study
Wankupar Wankhar, Sheeladevi Rathinasamy
Abstract
Aim: The objective of this present study was to investigate whether unilateral lesion in the fastigial nucleus (deep cerebellar nuclei) which is believed to influences posture and locomotion, could alter motor coordination in a rat model. Materials and Methods: In order to understand motor activity a combination of three motor tasks, which include rotarod, grid walk, and narrow beam test were performed. Rats were divided into three groups namely control, sham, and lesion groups. Results: The lesion group on 10th day showed increased hind limbs, forelimbs slips, and time spent on grid runway and beam walk along with decrease performance in the rotarod test, which is an indicative of altered motor behavior. However, no significant change was observed on the 15th day study in the entire test. Conclusion: This transient effect displayed on the 15th day, suggest that it might have been due to the ability of the animal to rehabilitate/neuronal plasticity on the lesioned side or it may have been due the compensatory changes on the non-damaged brain areas.