Early prediction of functional recovery after experimental stroke: functional magnetic resonance imaging, electrophysiology, and behavioral testing in rats
et al. ; Therapeutic success of treatment of cerebral diseases must be assessed in terms of functional outcome. In experimental stroke studies, this has been limited to behavioral studies combined with morphological evaluations and single time point functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measurements butlacking the access to understanding underlying mechanisms for alterations in brain activation. Using a recently developed blood oxygenation level-dependent fMRI protocol to study longitudinal and intraindividual profiles of functional brain activation in the somatosensory system, we have demonstrated activation reemergence in the original representation field as the basic principle offunctional recovery from experimental stroke. No plastic reorganization has been observed atany time point during 7 weeks after stroke induction. Applying combined recording of fMRI and somatosensory evoked potentials, we observed a tight coupling ofelectrical brain activity and hemodynamic response atall times, indicating persistentpreservation ofneurovascular coupling. Identification of functional brain recovery mechanisms has important implications for the understanding of brain plasticity after cerebral lesions, whereas preservation of neurovascular coupling is important for the clinical translation of fMRI. ; This work was supported by grants from the Hertie Foundation (Functional Brain Imaging) and through European Union Project LSHB-CT-2006-037526 (StemStroke). ; Peer reviewed