Figure 2.

Exercise-mediated enhancement of functional recovery. (A) Grid walk test. Foot slips from the grid were significantly reduced after both mild (5.0 vs. 6.6 at 3 days, **p < 0.01; 3.6 vs. 6.2 at 7 days, ***p < 0.001; 3.3 vs. 5.3 at 14 days, **p < 0.01; 1.0 vs. 3.9 at 21 days, ***p < 0.001; 1.0 vs. 3.4 at 28 days, **p < 0.01) and intense (5.2 vs. 6.6 at 3 days, ^#p < 0.05; 4.7 vs. 6.2 at 7 days, ^##p < 0.01; 4.0 vs. 5.3 at 14 days, ^#p < 0.05; 2.8 vs. 3.9 at 21 days, ^#p < 0.05; 2.2 vs. 3.4 at 28 days, ^##p < 0.01) exercise rats as compared to control rats at 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days. Mild exercise conferred further benefit over intense exercise in this respect (5.7 vs. 6.2 at 1 day; 5.0 vs 5.2 at 3 days; 3.6 vs. 4.7 at 7 days, ^&p < 0.05; 3.3 vs. 4.0 at 14 days; 1.0 vs. 2.8 at 21 days, ^&&p < 0.01; 1.0 vs. 2.2 at 28 days, ^&p < 0.05). Similar results were observed in beam balance (B), Rota-rod (C), adhesive removal (D,E), and forelimb placing tests (F). Learning ability was examined by the Morris water maze test at 24–28 days of exercise (G–J). Representative images of the swim paths at 28 days (G). Latency to locate the submerged platform at 24–28 days (H). Target quadrant time (I) and swim speed (J) at 28 days. *p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001 represent mild exercise vs. control; ^#p ≤ 0.05, ^##p ≤ 0.01, ^###p ≤ 0.001 represent intense exercise vs. control; ^&p ≤ 0.05 represent intense exercise vs. mild exercise. NS, not significant.