Optical tools to produce and study small strokes in animal models

Clinical evidence shows that ischemic and hemorrhagic microvascular lesions in the brain play an important role in elderly dementia, but few effective treatment or preventative strategies exist. This deficit is due, in part, to a lack of good animal models of these microvascular lesions that would allow the progression of disease to be studied and would provide a platform for the evaluation of therapeutics. Here, we discuss recent advances in optical techniques that allow both the targeted production of single-vessel occlusions and hemorrhages in the cortex of anesthetized rodents, as well as the quantitative analysis of the impact of these lesions on blood flow in the adjacent vascular network and on the health and function of nearby brain cells. These new optical tools offer a comprehensive animal model of small-scale stroke that will enable the progression of neural damage after a microvascular insult as well as the interaction of small strokes with other neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer´s disease, to be studied.