BME Seminar Series: How Does Neuronal Activity Protect the Cortex from Stroke?

Abstract: Stroke is the fifth leading cause for death in the U.S. and No. 1 cause for long term disability. Traditionally, stroke has been studied in animal models using cellular and molecular techniques, but little attention has been paid to neuronal activity. In this talk, I will describe surprising findings in a rat model of ischemic stroke relating sensory stimulation-evoked neuronal activity and stroke. Depending on delivery timing, sensory stimulation-evoked neuronal activity can protect the cortex from impending damage or exacerbate the damage. I will further elucidate the neuronal and vascular mechanisms underlying the protection and exacerbation processes and describe our accumulating evidence that neuronal activity and cortical structure-function relationship are pivotal players in understanding ischemic stroke outcome.

Bio: Ron D. Frostig is a professor of neurobiology and behavior and biomedical engineering at UCI. He received his bachelor's degree in biology and his master's degree in neurobiology from the Hebrew University, Israel. He received his doctorate in neuroscience at UCLA, and was a postdoctoral research scholar in neurobiology at the Rockefeller University. His lab’s major research interests include basic and pre-clinical studies of neocortical structure and function with an emphasis on plasticity.