Comparing Staircase and Skilled Forelimb Reaching Tests After Endothelin-1-Induced Stroke

Background: Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, but there are limited treatment options available despite extensive animal studies. A possible contributing factor for this discrepancy involves limitations of behavioral testing outcomes to assess therapeutic interventions. There are few comparisons to aid the researcher in choosing the most appropriate test. To address this issue, we compared the ability of two of the most commonly used fi ne-motor skills tests, the Montoya staircase and skilled forelimb reaching tests, to detect endothelin-1-induced ischemic strokes in the rat.