Performance of juvenile mice in a reach-to-grasp task

Reach-to-grasp tasks have been used to study rodent models of motor system damage, stroke, and neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's. These tasks are especially useful as they allow evaluation of bilateral or unilateral damage in different regions of the brain. Performing reach-to-grasp tests in juvenile mice may be important to understand motor disorders of early onset. This study evaluated the performance of juvenile and adolescent mice on a reach-to-grasp task. Male and female C57BL/6J mice (n = 93) were tested in a forelimb reaching task at postnatal weeks 4, 5, 7, 9 and 12. At all ages mice could learn the task and improved performance with training. Results show that reach-to-grasp tasks can be used to study skill learning in juvenile and adolescent mice. Results are discussed in terms of adapting methodologies (test protocols and arenas) when performing behaviour tests in young mice.