Abstract: Objective To study the effect of exploratory environment on behavioral recovery and the expression of neurogranin (Ng) in rats after unilateral local cerebral infarction. Methods 70 male Sprague-Dawley rats were adopted. After making the model of MCAO with electric coagulation, 60 rats were randomly divided into exploratory group (n=30, living in maze cages) and control group (n=30, living in large standard cages). Other 10 rats as the sham group lived in standard cage. 10 rats were chosen randomly from the groups for Berderson test, manual muscle and balancing test on the 1st, 7th, 14th, 28th day after operation, and 5 rats were sacrificed separately in exploratory group and control group at the same time. 5 rats in sham group were randomly sacrificed separately on the 7th, 28th day after operation. The expressions of Ng in the peri-ischemic cortex were detected with immunohistochemistry stain. Results The scores of behavior in exploratory group improved compared with that in control group (P<0.05) from 14 d after operation. The number of Ng positive cells increased in exploratory group compared with that in control group (P<0.01) from 7 d after operation. Conclusion Exploratory environment can facilitate the functional recovery and the Ng expression in rats after unilateral local cerebral infarction.

Key words: exploratory environment, cerebral infarction, behavior, neurogranin (Ng), rats