Series 8 rotarod

The apparatus (IITC Series 8 RotaRod) consists of a horizontal rod, capable of rotating at various speeds, positioned above the floor pan below. The rod's length is divided into individual compartments allowing for the running of multiple animals at a time. The rod was set to rotate at a constant rate of 15 RPM's and testing began once the mouse was positioned on the rod. The test was concluded when one of the following events occurred; the mouse fell off the rod, the mouse made one complete revolution on the rod without walking, or the mouse reached the cut-off of 180 s. Testing occurred on two consecutive days, each day consisting of 4 rotarod trials. For the accelerated rotarod, the speed was increased from 0 revolutions per minute (rpm) to 40 rpm over 300 s with a constant acceleration rate. Testing was concluded when the mouse fell off the rod, or the mouse reached the cut-off of 300 s. 4 consequent trials were tested on one day.

The rotarod task was used to assess cerebellar motor coordination and learning. For this procedure, we used a rotating rod (Series 8 Rotarod; IITC Inc., Woodland Hills, CA, USA) which gradually accelerated from 5rpm to 40rpm. All mice were subjected to two 5 minute trials, with a 60 minute ITI, across 4 days of testing. The designated experimenter was responsible for monitoring and recording the length of time in which mice could hold onto the rotating rod before falling. This task was performed in an isolated room controlled for light levels, temperature, and background noise.