Juvenile striatal white matter is resistant to ischemia-induced damage.

White matter injury following ischemic stroke is a major cause of functional disability. Injury to both myelinated axons and oligodendrocytes, the myelin producing cells in the central nervous system, occurs in experimental models of ischemic stroke. Age-related changes in white matter vulnerability to ischemia have been extensively studied and suggest that both the perinatal and the aged periods are times of increased white matter vulnerability.