Longitudinal assessment of infarct progression, brain metabolism and behavior following anterior cerebral artery occlusion in rats.

Background: Stroke patients suffering from occlusion of the anterior cerebral artery (ACAo) develop cognitive and executive deficits. Experimental models to investigate such functional impairments and recovery are rare and not satisfyingly validated.

New Method: We stereotactically injected the vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 (ET-1) close to the ACA of rats and assessed magnitude and course of CBF reduction using [(14)C]iodoantipyrine autoradiography and [(15)O]H2O-PET.

Neural correlates of sensorimotor gating: a metabolic positron emission tomography study in awake rats.

Impaired sensorimotor gating occurs in neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and can be measured using the prepulse inhibition (PPI) paradigm of the acoustic startle response. This assay is frequently used to validate animal models of neuropsychiatric disorders and to explore the therapeutic potential of new drugs. The underlying neural network of PPI has been extensively studied with invasive methods and genetic modifications.