Research reportAssessment of behavioral flexibility after middle cerebral artery occlusion in mice

- Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) is an animal model of stroke that results in various functional impairments.
- Long-term cognitive deficits induced by MCAO are not well characterized, especially regarding executive functioning.
- We used an operant task assessing behavioral flexibility (a process related to executive functioning) after MCAO in mice.
- Four weeks after MCAO, mice display a deficit in behavioral flexibility.
- Systematic infarction of the dorsomedial striatum could be accountable for the flexibility deficit.

Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) is the most common animal model of cerebral ischemia and induces various functional impairments. Long-lasting deficits resulting from MCAO however, remain insufficiently characterized, especially regarding cognition. Yet, behavioral flexibility, a prominent cognitive process is found impaired after stroke in humans. We thus used an operant-based task to assess behavioral flexibility in mice after MCAO. Three weeks after 30 min MCAO surgery, mice were subjected to a battery of sensorimotor tests (rotarod, vertical pole test, spontaneous locomotion and grip-strength test). Behavioral flexibility was then assessed in an operant task, in which mice, rewarded according to a FR5 schedule of reinforcement, had to alternate their operant responses between two levers from trial to trial. Regarding sensory and motor functioning, only the pole test yielded a significant difference between MCAO and sham mice. In the operant flexibility task, results showed a behavioral flexibility deficit in MCAO mice; neither the operant response acquisition nor the appeal for food rewards was altered. In conclusion, our operant-based task revealed a long-lasting behavioral flexibility deficit after MCAO in mice.