The Role of Neurovascular Coupling in Stroke Recovery

Evelyn Lake¹, Rafal Janik¹, Joydeep Chaudhuri¹, Greg J. Stanisz¹, Bojana Stefanovic¹

Within a well established preclinical model of injury, we use functional MRI and behavioural testing to assess the effect of well-timed, low dose gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) antagonism on recovery in the chronic stage of ischemic stroke recovery. During the weeks following injury, we have observed significantly more behavioural recovery in GABA antagonist treated animals than that shown by controls. In addition, we have observed GABA antagonist treatment to result in the partial normalization of the ipsi-to-contra-lesional perfusion response ratio. Further studies will focus on how this novel treatment strategy may promote neurovascular remodelling over long therapeutic time windows.