Table 1.

Baseline and post-treatment assessment of locomotor activity parameters in aged BNF rats

	Pre-treatment		Post-treatment (first 4 days after infusion)		Post-treatment (first 5 days after infusion)
Locomotor Parameter	% variation between treatment groups	Group order	% variation between treatment groups	Group order	% variation between treatment groups	Group order
Horizontal activity	0.18	N/A	35.2**	GFRα1 > Veh	17.2**	GFRα1 > Veh
Movement number	0.41	N/A	9.5*	GFRα1 > Veh	1.5	N/A
Total distance	0.48	N/A	15.1**	GFRα1 > Veh	8.2*	GFRα1 > Veh
Time spent moving	0.30	N/A	13.1*	GFRα1 > Veh	4.7	N/A
Movement speed	8.6*	GFRα1 > Veh	0.16	N/A	1.9	N/A
Vertical activity	0.30	N/A	15.0*	GFRα1 > Veh	5.2	N/A

Ten locomotor trials were conducted for each aged rat prior to surgery where either 1 ng soluble GFRα1 (n=4) or vehicle (n=5) was bilaterally infused into the SN. Locomotor trials were conducted each day following this surgery for 5 days. Each locomotor parameter was assessed by two-way ANOVA to determine if there were group differences prior to or after infusion surgeries. For the sum of the first 4 days after treatment horizontal activity, movement number, total distance, time spent moving, and vertical activity were all significantly greater in the soluble GFRα1-treated group compared to vehicle-infused group. However, for the sum of 5 days following treatment, only horizontal activity and total distance were significantly higher in the soluble GFRα1-treated group

^*p<0.05;

^**p<0.001