FIG. 5.

Delayed administration of guanabenz improves vestibulomotor, motor, and recognition memory after traumatic brain injury. (A) Controlled cortical impact animals were treated starting 24 h postinjury with either 5.0 mg/kg of guanabenz or vehicle (n=6/group), then tested for their motor and cognitive abilities. When treatment initiation was delayed, guanabenz remained effective at decreasing (B) vestibulomotor deficits tested using the beam balance task. Both (C) contra- and (D) ipsilateral foot faults were reduced in animals receiving delayed guanabenz treatment. (E) When tested for recognition memory, rats receiving guanabenz starting 24 h postinjury had a significant preference for the novel object, indicating improved recognition memory. Vehicle-treated animals did not remember the familiar object, spending equivalent amounts of time exploring it and the novel object. Please note that the vehicle-treated group is the same as that shown in Figure 3. Data are presented as the mean±standard error of the mean. ^‡Significant difference by two-way repeated measures analysis of variance. *p<0.05. NOR, novel object recognition; MWM, Morris water maze; Veh, vehicle. Guan, Guanabenz.