Optogenetic neuronal stimulation promotes functional recovery after stroke.

ABSTRACT: Clinical and research efforts have focused on promoting functional recovery after stroke. Brain stimulation strategies are particularly promising because they allow direct manipulation of the target area's excitability. However, elucidating the cell type and mechanisms mediating recovery has been difficult because existing stimulation techniques nonspecifically target all cell types near the stimulated site. To circumvent these barriers, we used optogenetics to selectively activate neurons that express channelrhodopsin 2 and demonstrated that selective neuronal stimulations in the ipsilesional primary motor cortex (iM1) can promote functional recovery. Stroke mice that received repeated neuronal stimulations exhibited significant improvement in cerebral blood flow and the neurovascular cou

SUBMITTER: Cheng MY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4156770 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature