The "staircase" test is designed for measurement of side-specific deficits in coordinated paw movements in rats during skilled reaching and grasping tasks. It has been shown to reveal impairments on the contralateral side following unilateral lesions in a wide range of motor structures of the brain.

 

Material:

Translucent durable acrylic plastic. Stainless steel screws.

Dimensions:

	for rats
internal dimensions	300 x 60 x 90-115 mm
staircase step	14 x 6 mm

Key features

Translucent walls of the cage allow to observe animal movements laterally and from above.

Cage has a guillotine door at one end to let the animal in and a pullot block of two staircases at the opposite side.

Adjustable height to accomodate different sizes of rats.

The apparatus is a plexiglas box with a removable baited double staircase. Food pellets are placed on the staircase and presented bilaterally at 7 graded stages of reaching difficulty to provide objective measures of side bias, maximum forelimb extension and grasping skill.