Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 9, 2026

Modeling Stroke in Mice: Focal Cortical Lesions by Photothrombosis
Published on: May 6, 2021
CREB controls cortical circuit plasticity and functional recovery after stroke
L Caracciolo1, M Marosi1,2, J Mazzitelli1
1Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Abstract:
Treatments that stimulate neuronal excitability enhance motor performance after stroke. cAMP-response-element binding protein (CREB) is a transcription factor that plays a key role in neuronal excitability. Increasing the levels of CREB with a viral vector in a small pool of motor neurons enhances motor recovery after stroke, while blocking CREB signaling prevents stroke recovery. Silencing CREB-transfected neurons in the peri-infarct region with the hM4Di-DREADD blocks motor recovery. Reversing this inhibition allows recovery to continue, demonstrating that by manipulating the activity of CREB-transfected neurons it is possible to turn off and on stroke recovery. CREB transfection enhances remapping of injured somatosensory and motor circuits, and induces the formation of new connections within these circuits. CREB is a central molecular node in the circuit responses after stroke that lead to recovery from motor deficits.
Related Concept Videos
Network Function of a Circuit
Plasticity
Plasticizers
Plasticizers function by using surface-active agents to create repulsive electrostatic forces between cement particles. This dispersion enhances the concrete's...
Transfer Function in Control Systems
To derive the transfer function, consider a general nth-order linear time-invariant...
Plastic Behavior
Plastic Deformations

