Changes in motor function, cognition, and emotion-related behavior after right hemispheric intracerebral hemorrhage in various brain regions of mouse

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a detrimental type of stroke. Mouse models of ICH, induced by collagenase or blood infusion, commonly target striatum, but not other brain sites such as ventricular system, cortex, and hippocampus. Few studies have systemically investigated brain damage and neurobehavioral deficits that develop in animal models of ICH in these areas of the right hemisphere. Therefore, we evaluated the brain damage and neurobehavioral dysfunction associated with right hemispheric ICH in ventricle, cortex, hippocampus, and striatum. The ICH model was induced by autologous whole blood or collagenase VII-S (0.075 units in 0.5 µl saline) injection. At different time points after ICH induction, mice were assessed for brain tissue damage and neurobehavioral deficits. Sham control mice were used for comparison. We found that ICH location influenced features of brain damage, microglia/macrophage activation, and behavioral deficits. Furthermore, the 24-point neurologic deficit scoring system was most sensitive for evaluating locomotor abnormalities in all four models, especially on days 1, 3, and 7 post-ICH. The wire-hanging test was useful for evaluating locomotor abnormalities in models of striatal, intraventricular, and cortical ICH. The cylinder test identified locomotor abnormalities only in the striatal ICH model. The novel object recognition test was effective for evaluating recognition memory dysfunction in all models except for striatal ICH. The tail suspension test, forced swim test, and sucrose preference test were effective for evaluating emotional abnormality in all four models but did not correlate with severity of brain damage. These results will help to inform future preclinical studies of ICH outcomes.