Flick of a whisker can prevent stroke damage in rats
Study suggests sensory stimulation could provide nondrug method for protecting human patients
SAN DIEGO — In the two-hour window after a stroke, flicking a single whisker completely prevents many damaging effects in a rat, a new study finds. The cheap, simple intervention, described November 15 at a news conference at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting, may represent a new way to minimize disability after a stroke.
“I think it’s one of the most profound findings that have come along in recent years,” said neuroscientist Carol Barnes of the University of Arizona in Tucson. “There is no brain damage. It’s almost a miracle. It’s almost too good to be true. Any protection would be good, but this is more than dramatic.”
Researchers led by Ron Frostig of the University of California, Irvine mimicked a stroke by severing a major blood vessel in rats’ brains. Then at times during the two hours immediately afterward, a mechanical rod stimulated a single whisker on the anesthetized rat for a total of less than five minutes.