Animal Models and Treatments for Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is the most common pediatric neurodevelopmental physical disability with a prevalence of 2-5 cases for every 1000 live births. CP results from injury to the developing brain that occurs at the time surrounding birth. Although the severity and extent of CP symptoms varies among patients, all develop motor and posture disturbances which limit their activity. There is no known cure for CP and the discovery of safe and effective therapies remains an unmet goal that requires testing in animal models that best recapitulate the human disease. Due to the many developmental and functional differences between the neonatal brain and the adult brain, the ability to extrapolate adult data to the neonatal condition is very limited. For this reason, it is incumbent on scientists in the field of neonatal brain injury to address the questions of therapeutic efficacy of an array of potential therapies in a developmentally appropriate model. Toward that end, several of the established CP models have been adapted to different species and different ages. More recently a number of new models have also been introduced. Some of these models have been critical in identifying treatments that alleviate symptoms. This review gives a brief background on CP and goes on to describe animal models and potential treatments for the disease.