Inclined Beam Task

The examiner was blinded to groups for each behavioral experiment that was performed. All of the behavioral studies were conducted using naïve mice that had not previously been exposed to experimental testing. The inclined beam-walking task involved two elevated 80-cm long wooden beams at a 30° angle. One of the beams was 1-cm wide and the other was 2-cm wide. At the top of each inclined beam, a dark box with animal bedding was placed as a target for the mice to reach. The beams were cleaned between each mouse with 30% ethanol. As the mice traversed the inclined beam, the number of foot slips was recorded and averaged from four trials. Behavioral experiments were performed at P60 or P90.