• Marc Maegele, Marcela Lippert-Gruener, Thorsten Ester-Bode, Stefan Sauerland, Ute Schäfer, Marek Molcanyi, Marek Molcany, Rolf Lefering, Bertil Bouillon, Wolfram F Neiss, Doychin N Angelov, Norfried Klug, Tracy K McIntosh, and Edmund A M Neugebauer.
• Biochemische und Experimentelle Abteilung, Medizinische Fakultät der Universität zu Köln, Chirurgische Klinik der Universität Witten-Herdecke, Klinikum Köln-Merheim, Germany. Marc.Maegele@t-online.de
• J. Neurotrauma. 2005 Jul 1;22(7):772-82.

AbstractThis study was designed to investigate the additional benefits of a multimodal early onset stimulation (MEOS) paradigm when combined with enriched environment (EE) versus EE only and standard housing (SH) on the recovery after experimental traumatic brain injury (TBI). Male Sprague- Dawley rats were subjected to moderate lateral fluid percussion (LFP) brain injury (n = 40) or sham operation (n = 6). Thereafter, the injured and sham/EE + MEOS and EE only groups were placed into a complex EE consisting of tunnel-connected wide-bodied cages with various beddings, inclining platforms, and toys. Along with group living and environmental complexity, injured and sham/EE + MEOS animals were additionally exposed to a standardized paradigm of multimodal stimulation including auditory, visual, olfactory, and motor stimuli. In contrast, injured and sham/SH groups were housed individually without stimulation. A standardized composite neuroscore (NS) test was used to assess acute post-traumatic neuromotor deficits (24 h after injury) and recovery on days 7 and 15; recovery of cognitive function was assessed on days 11-15 using the Barnes maze. Neuromotor impairment was comparable in all injured animals at 24 h post-injury, but braininjured EE + MEOS rats performed significantly better than both brain-injured SH and EE groups when tested on post-injury days 7 and 15 (p = 0.004). Similarly, latencies to locate the hidden box under the Barnes maze platform were significantly shortened in EE + MEOS animals at day 15 (p = 0.003). These results indicate that the reversal of neuromotor and cognitive dysfunction after TBI can be substantially enhanced when MEOS is added to EE.

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