Alternative Rodent Models of Brain Injury and Post-injury Assessment

TOPICAL COLLECTIONS

Guest Editor

Matthew Boyko

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), Israel

Academic position: Senior lecturer. Education: Ph.D. degree and post-doctorate studies at BGU, Israel. Publications: Over than 50 scientific publications mostly as the first author, the majority in the fields of neuroprotection and behavioral implications of stroke, TBI and SAH; Physiology and regulation of blood glutamate and neuroprotection by glutamate scavenging; Development of animal models of stroke, TBI, SAH and markers of brain injury; Anesthesiology and Critical care (see PubMed for details).  Present activity:  Investigation of the effects of brain injury on the development of mental disorders (anxiety, PSD, PTSD), social behavior and cognition. Collaborations: Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, USA.; University of Washington, Seattle, USA.; Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel; Weitzman Institute of Science, Rechovot, Israel; Anxiety and Stress Research Unit, BGU, Israel; Nazarbaev University, Kazakhstan; Dnipropetrovsk National University, Ukraine. Mentorship: Mentor for more than 50 Ph.D., M.D, M.Sc. students and M.D. research fellows Activity besides the university: Editor for six and reviewer for thirteen scientific journals.

Collection Overview

Animal models are an important tool to evaluate the pathophysiology of cerebral injury and to advance the development of novel treatment options for improving neurological outcomes. Appropriate animal models are valued for their reproducibility and standardization, and their ability to provide direct access to brain tissue. Historically, the two most common techniques for studying neurological damage have been focal insult through intramural middle cerebral artery occlusion and inducing traumatic brain injury by external force using a weight drop. Following cerebral insult, measured outcomes in determining the extent of neurological injury often include a behavioral neurological severity score or histologic examination of cerebral edema, infarct zone, and/or blood-brain barrier permeability. Over the last decade, however, a variety of innovative methods have been developed. The objective of this collection is to present new, state-of-the-art techniques available to induce cerebral insult and to investigate subsequent neurological damage. We believe these novel approaches provide more practical, accurate, cost-efficient, and ethically-favorable options to measure neurological injury, and may promote future studies to better understand and treat its associated consequences.