Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Over 50,000 strokes occur in Canada each year: 15% are lethal, making stroke the 3rd leading cause of death. Out of the 300,000 Canadians living with the effects of stroke, half suffer from moderate to severe impairments. That the rehabilitation of this patient population is not more effective largely reflects the uncertainty surrounding the structural and functional changes which govern recovery. Uncertainty surrounding the cellular changes that are needed for full recovery of brain function is a major factor preventing the development of more effective therapies to rehabilitate patients following stroke. It has become clear that recovery is strongly affected by changes that occur in the neurons and blood vessels in the peri-infarct zone, the impaired, but potentially salvageable brain region peripheral to the area directly affected by the loss of blood supply. The goal of the present proposal is to understand the changes in the neurovascular coupling in the peri-infarct zone in the weeks following stroke. This work will be conducted using advanced 3D imaging techniques that allow visualization of individual neurons and blood vessels in brains of live rats that have received stroke. The responses of neurons and blood vessels to sensory stimulation will be contrasted between untreated animals and those treated with specific drugs to restore healthy levels of neurovascular activity. These experiments will interrogate the mechanisms by which changes in the neurons and blood vessels support rehabilitation and thus guide the development of new treatments applicable over long therapeutic time windows, thereby benefitting a large population of patients.