TY - JOUR
T1 - Rigor and reproducibility in analysis of rodent behavior utilizing the forelimb reaching task following a cervical spinal cord injury
AU - Salazar, Betsy H.
AU - Hoffman, Kristopher A.
AU - Fraizer, Allison M.
AU - Humes, Frances
AU - Hogan, Matthew K.
AU - Horner, Maddalena A.
AU - Yadegar, Timothy
AU - Trusler, Sarah
AU - Hamilton, Gillian F.
AU - Horner, Philip J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research supported by grants awarded to PJH from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation (476916, 733407) and Department of Defense (W81XWH-17-1-033). BHS and MKH were supported by a NeuralCODR Fellowship. KAH and PJH are supported by a Houston Methodist Translational Research Initiative Grant awarded to PJH. MKH was supported by a Craig H. Neilsen Foundation Fellowship (599274) and Morton Cure Paralysis Foundation Fellowship. The authors declare that this study received philanthropic funding from Paula and Rusty Walter and Walter Oil & Gas Corp Endowment at Houston Methodist. The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication.
Funding Information:
This research supported by grants awarded to PJH from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation ( 476916 , 733407 ) and Department of Defense ( W81XWH-17-1-033 ). BHS and MKH were supported by a NeuralCODR Fellowship. KAH and PJH are supported by a Houston Methodist Translational Research Initiative Grant awarded to PJH. MKH was supported by a Craig H. Neilsen Foundation Fellowship ( 599274 ) and Morton Cure Paralysis Foundation Fellowship. The authors declare that this study received philanthropic funding from Paula and Rusty Walter and Walter Oil & Gas Corp Endowment at Houston Methodist. The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2023/2/15
Y1 - 2023/2/15
N2 - Spinal cord injury (SCI) research with animals aims to understand the neurophysiological responses resultant of injury and to identify effective interventions that can translate into clinical treatments in the future. Consistent and reliable assessments to properly measure outcomes are essential to achieve this aim and avoid issues with reproducibility. The objective of this study was to establish a baseline for implementing the forelimb reaching task (FRT) assessment and analysis that increased reproducibility of our studies. For this study, we implemented a weekly FRT training program for six weeks. During this time the language of the scoring rubric for movement elements that comprise a reaching task was simplified and expanded. We calculated intra- and inter-rater variability among participants of the study both before and after training to determine the effect changes made had on rigor and reproducibility of this behavioral assessment in a cervical SCI rodent model. All animals (n = 19) utilized for FRT behavioral assessments received moderate contusion injuries using the Ohio State University device and were tested for a period of 5 weeks post-SCI. Videos used for scoring were edited and shared with all participants of this study to test FRT score variability and the effect simplification of the scoring rubric had on overall inter-rater reliability. From our results we determined training for a minimum of three weeks in FRT analysis is necessary for rigor and reproducibility of our behavioral studies, as well as the need for two raters to be assigned per animal to ensure accuracy of results.
AB - Spinal cord injury (SCI) research with animals aims to understand the neurophysiological responses resultant of injury and to identify effective interventions that can translate into clinical treatments in the future. Consistent and reliable assessments to properly measure outcomes are essential to achieve this aim and avoid issues with reproducibility. The objective of this study was to establish a baseline for implementing the forelimb reaching task (FRT) assessment and analysis that increased reproducibility of our studies. For this study, we implemented a weekly FRT training program for six weeks. During this time the language of the scoring rubric for movement elements that comprise a reaching task was simplified and expanded. We calculated intra- and inter-rater variability among participants of the study both before and after training to determine the effect changes made had on rigor and reproducibility of this behavioral assessment in a cervical SCI rodent model. All animals (n = 19) utilized for FRT behavioral assessments received moderate contusion injuries using the Ohio State University device and were tested for a period of 5 weeks post-SCI. Videos used for scoring were edited and shared with all participants of this study to test FRT score variability and the effect simplification of the scoring rubric had on overall inter-rater reliability. From our results we determined training for a minimum of three weeks in FRT analysis is necessary for rigor and reproducibility of our behavioral studies, as well as the need for two raters to be assigned per animal to ensure accuracy of results.
KW - Behavioral assessment
KW - Interrater reliability
KW - Rigor and reproducibility
KW - Skilled forelimb reaching task
KW - Spinal cord injury
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U2 - 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.114188
DO - 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.114188
M3 - Article
C2 - 36395979
AN - SCOPUS:85143584246
VL - 439
JO - Behavioural Brain Research
JF - Behavioural Brain Research
SN - 0166-4328
M1 - 114188
ER -