Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
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Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. · Oct 2016
ReviewFunctional magnetic resonance imaging in chronic ischaemic stroke.
Ischaemic stroke is the leading cause of adult disability worldwide. Effective rehabilitation is hindered by uncertainty surrounding the underlying mechanisms that govern long-term ischaemic injury progression. Despite its potential as a sensitive non-invasive in vivo marker of brain function that may aid in the development of new treatments, blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has found limited application in the clinical research on chronic stage stroke progression. ⋯ Concomitant measurements of vascular reactivity, neuronal activity and metabolism in preclinical models of stroke are reviewed along with illustrative examples of post-ischaemic evolution in neuronal, glial and vascular function. The realization of the BOLD fMRI potential to propel stroke research is predicated on the carefully designed preclinical research establishing an ischaemia-specific quantitative model of BOLD signal contrast to provide the framework for interpretation of fMRI findings in clinical populations. This article is part of the themed issue 'Interpreting BOLD: a dialogue between cognitive and cellular neuroscience'.