An Overview of Commonly Used Rodent Models for Studying Motor Dysfunction

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is classified as a movement disorder due to the predominant issues in tremor, gait, balance, and bradykinesia. These symptoms are linked to loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra and their projections to the striatum. Pathologically, abnormal alpha-synuclein (aSyn) phosphorylation and aggregation are presumed to cause this nigrostriatal degeneration. Herein you will find a summary of models that display robust dysfunction from the Preclinical Tools and Models Team at The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF). Please note, this list is not comprehensive as there are many reports of motor dysfunction in models (albeit some are subtle, not as easily replicated across labs, or the result of degeneration outside of the nigrostriatal system).