Behavioral effects and neural changes induced by continuous and not continuous treadmill training, post bilateral cerebral ischemia in gerbils

• Treadmill training changes behavior in ischemic gerbils.
• The start training time is the key to modifying the behavior and brain morphology.
• Continuous treadmill training shows improvement in behavior when starting 24 h after ischemia.

This study aims to investigate the effects of treadmill training and the possible influences of the start, regularity, and duration after experimental ischemic stroke. We performed bilateral occlusion of both the carotid arteries for 5 min in Mongolian gerbils. The training groups were: continuous training for 5 consecutive days or not continuous training for 3 non-consecutive days. The groups remained in the treadmill for 15 min, and the training started 12 or 24 h after the stroke. In the activity cage (AC), behaviors of crossing and distance traveled were registered. The forced motor behavior was analyzed by a Rota Rod test. After the experiments, the brains were perfused, and coronal sections of the striatum, motor cortex M1, and CA1 area of the hippocampus were cut and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Behavioral and morphological data analysis was performed by an ANOVA and MANCOVA. Results showed an increased density of neurons in the CA1 area of the hippocampus, motor cortex M1, and the striatum in ischemic training groups compared to the not training ischemic groups. Animals subjected to continuous training that started 24 h after ischemia showed a satisfactory behavior in the AC and a higher number of striatal neurons when compared to ischemic animals. The animals in the not continuous training started 12 h after the stroke showed an unsatisfactory performance in the AC and Rota Rod. These findings suggest that early training and not continuous training are inadequate for motor behavior improvement after stroke.