Assessment of behavioural recovery following spinal cord injury in rats

Behavioural recovery is one of the primary goals of therapeutic interventio n in animal models of disease. It is necessary, therefore, to have the mean s with which to quantify pertinent behavioural changes in experimental anim als. Nevertheless, the number and diversity of behavioural measures which h ave been used to assess recovery after experimental interventions often mak es it difficult to compare results between studies. The present review atte mpts to integrate and categorize the wide variety of behavioural assessment s used to measure recovery in spinal-injured rats. These categories include endpoint measures, kinematic measures, kinetic measurements, and electroph ysiological measurements. Within this categorization, we discuss the advant ages and disadvantages of each type of measurement. Finally, we make some r ecommendations regarding the principles for a comprehensive behavioural ana lysis after experimental spinal cord injury in rats.