MRI of Neurological Damage in Rats and Mice

The present chapter introduces the potential of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for in vivo investigations of experimental stroke in rodents. Aspects in setting up the experiment, particular for this technique, are presented as well as considerations for the choice of anaesthesia protocol. Structural changes induced by the evolution of the pathophysiological processes are demonstrated. Furthermore, a broad range of MRI options for the investigations of functional deficits and outcome improvement are pointed out. Emphasis is set on the multimodal approach capability of MRI to obtain complementary structural, haemodynamic, metabolic and, finally also, functional information in longitudinal studies of the complex pathophysiological evolution of stroke.