WWW.JNEUROSCI.ORG
-
The Journal of Neuroscience Seahorse Bioscience
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     
-


HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (94)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Tillerson, J. L.
Right arrow Articles by Schallert, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Tillerson, J. L.
Right arrow Articles by Schallert, T.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

The Journal of Neuroscience, June 15, 2001, 21(12):4427-4435

Forced Limb-Use Effects on the Behavioral and Neurochemical Effects of 6-Hydroxydopamine

Jennifer L. Tillerson1, Ann D. Cohen1, Jennifer Philhower1, 2, Gary W. Miller1, 2, Michael J. Zigmond3, and Timothy Schallert1, 4

1 Institute for Neuroscience and the 2 Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, 3 Department of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, and 4 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109

Rats with unilateral depletion of striatal dopamine (DA) show marked preferential use of the ipsilateral forelimb. Previous studies have shown that implementation of motor therapy after stroke improves functional outcome (Taub et al., 1999). Thus, we have examined the impact of forced use of the impaired forelimb during or soon after unilateral exposure to the DA neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). In one group of animals, the nonimpaired forelimb was immobilized using a cast, which forced exclusive use of the impaired limb for the first 7 d after infusion. The animals that received a cast displayed no detectable impairment or asymmetry of limb use, could use the contralateral (impaired) forelimb independently for vertical and lateral weight shifting, and showed no contralateral turning to apomorphine. The behavioral effects were maintained throughout the 60 d of observation. In addition to the behavioral sparing, these animals showed remarkable sparing of striatal DA, its metabolites, and the expression of the vesicular monoamine transporter, suggesting a decrease in the extent of DA neuron degeneration. Behavioral and neurochemical sparing appeared to be complete when the 7 d period of immobilization was initiated immediately after 6-OHDA infusion, only partial sparing was evident when immobilization was initiated 3 d postoperatively, and no sparing was detected when immobilization was initiated 7 d after 6-OHDA treatment. These results suggest that physical therapy may be beneficial in Parkinson's disease.

Key words: motor therapy; Parkinson's disease; neurodegeneration; plasticity; movement; dopamine

Copyright © 2001 Society for Neuroscience  0270-6474/01/21124427-09$05.00/0




-

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help
-
Copyright 2008 by Society for Neuroscience ONLINE ISSN: 1529-2401
-