Influence of an enriched environment and cortical grafting on functional outcome in brain infarcts of adult rats (1995)

Grabowski, M., Sorensen, J. C., Mattsson, B. et al.

Abstract

The right middle cerebral artery (MCA) was ligated in 34 inbred, spontaneously hypertensive male rats, which were then randomly divided into three groups.Groups A and B were transferred to an enriched environment, i.e., a large cage with opportunities for various activities but not forcing the rats to do any particular tasks; group C was kept in standard laboratory cages. .. Rats in group A (n = 11) and group B (n = 11) performed equally well and significantly better than rats in group C (n = 10) when placed on an inclined plane and when traversing a rotating pole 6 and 9 weeks after the MCA occlusion and in a leg placement test at 9, but not 6 and 12 weeks.