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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Oct 24.
Published in final edited form as: Exp Neurol. 2013 Jun 13;248:136–147. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2013.06.006

FIG. 3.

FIG. 3

Grooming, paw use (IBB) and open field locomotor performance over time after injury. (A) Both sham lesions and TBI alone did not affect grooming, but rats with SCI (SCI alone and combined SCI and TBI) produced deficits in grooming. Two days after injury, the majority of animals with SCI were only able to touch the bottom of the snout (score of 1), but they remarkably improved from 2 days to 7 days post-injury. Twenty-one days after the injury, only SCI + contralateral TBI rats demonstrated significantly lower grooming scores than sham and TBI only groups (score of 4). Forty-two days after injury, no statistically significant differences between groups were evident. (B) Irvine Beatties Bresnahan (IBB) forelimb scale. (Irvine, et al. 2010). Before the injury, the rats could eat any type of cereal without any deficit in forelimb function (score of 9); but 2 days after the injury, rats with both SCI and TBI showed a significant decrease in ipsilateral (right) forepaw function. Seven days after the injury, only the SCI and SCI + contralateral TBI rats showed deficits in forelimb function. (C) Open field forelimb locomotor test using the Martinez score (Martinez, et al. 2009). Neither sham nor TBI alone affected forelimb locomotor scores, but rats with SCI (SCI alone and combined SCI and TBI) exhibited deficits in locomotor function. Rats with SCI showed severe impairments of forelimb movements and postural abilities at 2 days post-injury but rapidly recovered within the first 7 days. SCI + contralateral TBI rats recovered more slowly than SCI alone and SCI + ipsilateral TBI rats, but finally reached a similar level of motor skills. (D) Openfield hindlimb locomotor test. During the first 7 days after the injury, rats with SCI showed hindlimb deficits, which were mainly characterized by poor stepping. SCI: spinal cord injury, TBI: traumatic brain injury, ○: significant difference compared to sham group, □ :significant difference compared to TBI group, ▲ :significant difference compared to SCI + ipsilateral TBI group