Introduction

This chapter focuses on methods to assess postural and locomotor performance in laboratory animals. The main purpose is to identify the specific neuromotor deficits resulting from spinal cord injury (SCI) and those interventions that may be used to improve the level of recovery (see Volume I, Chapters 21–26, 28 and 29). Furthermore, we have focused on methods that reflect in vivo function. The methods include not only those which demonstrate the degree of motor dysfunction, but also those which provide some insight into the specific neural deficits that could account for the level of postural and locomotor performance.

In selecting methods to assess motor performance, the experimental design and the specific questions being addressed should be carefully considered. In the literature related to SCI over the past few years there has been the perception that there is a single test that can be used to define motor performance levels. In addition, there seems to have evolved the concept that the primary criteria for selecting a method of measurement of performance are that they can be easily and quickly administered, as well as inexpensive. Although such criteria can be rationalized in the clinical environment, in most cases this is not acceptable for drawing clear scientific conclusions. The view that a meaningful “measurement” can be validly and reliably derived from a visual impression to generate a rating of the performance of an animal in a minimally controlled environment has become pervasive in the area of SCI.