[Changes in the parameters of locomotion following partial extirpation of the motor cortex in white rats].

Quantitative locomotion changes have been studied in the norm and in different periods after local ablation of motor projection of hind paw in the right hemisphere of 5-16 weeks white rats. The length and width of step gradually increase with the age, and coefficients of gait asymmetry reflecting individual characteristics, are relatively stable in intact animals. Local decortication is accompanied by significant shifts of all locomotion parameters clearly expressed in the first days after ablation. The most sensitive characteristic of gait anomaly is the standard deviation of half-step. In 5 weeks after ablation a lag is observed of operated rats behind the control ones in all parameters. Load application contributes to revealing of locomotion parameters shifts from the norm in later periods after decortication. In 9 and 11 weeks after surgery, the signs of supercompensation are observed in a number of parameters.