Thy1-YFP-H Mice and the Parallel Rod Floor Test to Evaluate Short- and Long-Term Progression of Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability and is a risk factor for the later development of neuropsychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. Many models of TBI have been developed, but their further refinement and a more detailed long-term follow-up is needed. We have used the Thy1-YFP-H transgenic mouse line and the parallel rod floor test to produce an unbiased and robust method for the evaluation of the multiple effects of a validated model of controlled cortical injury. This approach reveals short- and long-term progressive changes, including compromised biphasic motor function up to 85 days post-lesion, which correlates with neuronal atrophy, dendrite and spine loss, and long-term axonal pathology evidenced by axon spheroids and fragmentation. Here we present methods for inducing a controlled cortical injury in the Thy1-YFP-H transgenic mouse line and for evaluating the resulting deficits in the parallel rod floor test. This technique constitutes a new, unbiased, and robust method for the evaluation of motor and behavioral alterations after TBI. © 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.