Fig. 6

Persistent neurological deficits in mice subjected to repetitive traumatic brain injury (rTBI). (a) Significantly prolonged time to the return of the righting reflex (RR) after discontinuation of anesthesia in mice subjected to repetitive TBI (rTBI) versus sham operated animals. There was as a significant group (P < 0.001) effect but no significant time (P = 0.958) effect or a group x time (P = 0.574) interaction (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 versus sham). (b). There were significant group (P = 0.003) and time (P < 0.001) effects as well as presence of a significant group x time interaction (P < 0.001) for the composite neurological severity score (**P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 versus baseline). (c) There were significant group and time effects as well as presence of a significant group x time interaction (P < 0.001, each) for the change in body weight during the first 4 weeks after surgery (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 versus sham). Data are mean ± SEM. All statistical comparisons were made using mixed effects models (n = 8 for sham; n = 20 for baseline to 1 week after rTBI, n = 12 for 2 to 4 weeks after rTBI, and n = 4 for 24 weeks after rTBI). For clarity in the figure, post-hoc pairwise comparisons are only shown for significant differences between groups (a, c) and versus baseline (b)