Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S. and a leading cause of disability worldwide. Most strokes are ischemic, caused by blockage of blood flow to a defined area of the brain. Hence, experimental models of focal ischemia predominate in stroke research. The goal of utilizing these models in pre-clinical stroke research is to understand the basic mechanisms of stroke at the cellular and molecular levels that are not feasible to obtain in human subjects.  

Recent initiatives, like the STAIR criteria, strive to enhance the rigor and reproducibility of these models, which is crucial for translating pre-clinical findings into effective stroke treatments. Thus, there is a pressing need to provide the stroke research community with various avenues to standardize these models through visual references such as those provided herein. 

This Methods Collection seeks to present a comprehensive overview and update on reproducible methods for various experimental focal cerebral ischemia models. These include stroke in awake animals, thromboembolic stroke models, photothrombotic stroke, vasoconstriction-induced models of white matter ischemia, cerebellar stroke, and the measurement of cerebral blood flow using Laser Speckle Doppler, an emerging component in experimental focal cerebral ischemia models.