Swimming as an Assessment of Hindlimb Function in Animals with Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury

In the field of spinal cord injury, there is a need for accurate and versatile behavioral assessments. Locomotor rating scales (BBB and BMS; see Burke and Magnuson, Chap. 47) form the foundation of behavioral assessments, but combining them with objective techniques provides a more comprehensive view for the characterization of animal models and postinjury deficits and functional recovery. The swimming scale used in our training model is the Louisville Swim Scale (LSS). It has proven to be a sensitive and robust assessment of hindlimb function in adult rats with T9 contusions injuries ranging from mild to moderately severe and sensitively detects improvements brought about by swim training. We have developed an objective measure to complement the LSS based on two-dimensional (2-D) kinematics. The 2-D kinematics was found to be highly sensitive, interpretable, and inexpensive. The recent addition of an automated Excel add-in has decreased analysis time, improved reliability and significantly enhanced throughput. Taken together, the LSS and 2-D kinematics provide excellent tools to aid in distinguishing between different injury severities and functional improvements following an experimental therapy.