Subject(s)
Anxiety Disorders/complications , Fructose/analogs & derivatives , Sexual Behavior/drug effects , Sexual Dysfunctions, Psychological , Adult , Anticonvulsants/administration & dosage , Anticonvulsants/adverse effects , Anxiety Disorders/diagnosis , Anxiety Disorders/drug therapy , Anxiety Disorders/psychology , Behavioral Symptoms , Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Drug Substitution/methods , Female , Fructose/administration & dosage , Fructose/adverse effects , Humans , Medication Adherence , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Psychotropic Drugs/therapeutic use , Sexual Dysfunctions, Psychological/diagnosis , Sexual Dysfunctions, Psychological/drug therapy , Sexual Dysfunctions, Psychological/etiology , Sexual Dysfunctions, Psychological/psychology , Topiramate , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Clinical and laboratory studies have suggested that amphetamine treatment when paired with rehabilitation results in improved recovery of function after stroke or traumatic brain injury. In the present study, we investigated whether new anatomical pathways developed in association with improved motor function after brain damage and amphetamine treatment linked with rehabilitation. Following a unilateral sensorimotor cortex lesion in the adult rat, amphetamine (2 mg/kg) was administered in conjunction with physiotherapy sessions on postoperative days two and five. Physiotherapy was continued twice daily for the first 3 weeks after injury, and then once daily until week six. Performance on skilled forelimb reaching and ladder rung walking was used to assess motor improvement. Our results show that animals with sensorimotor cortical lesions receiving amphetamine treatment linked with rehabilitation had significant improvement in both tasks. Neuroanatomical tracing of efferent pathways from the opposite, non-damaged cortex resulted in the novel finding that amphetamine treatment linked with rehabilitation, significantly increased axonal growth in the deafferented basilar pontine nuclei. These results support the notion that pharmacological interventions paired with rehabilitation can enhance neuronal plasticity and thereby improve functional recovery after CNS injury.