Elucidating torpor's effects on brain activity and behaviour and investigating its neuroprotective properties against acute ischaemic stroke

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Stroke is a leading cause of adult disability and death globally. It occurs when a clot forms in blood vessels in the brain. The affected area of brain is starved of oxygen, leading to the death of brain cells. The result is often life-changing disability or death. Thrombolysis, a drug treatment that dissolves the clot, has proven to be very effective against stroke. However, the time window in which it can be used is short (4.5 hours). Therefore, stroke scientists have been researching new methods of treating stroke that may complement thrombolysis and improve outcome in post-stroke patients. Research in animals shows that hypothermia is the most effective neuroprotective therapy (i.e. a treatment that protects brain cells from damage e.g. due to a stroke). However, current ways of triggering hypothermia (e.g. cooling the body's surface using a cooling blanket) lead to thermogenesis. This is a response that involves shivering (which is unpleasant for the patient) and, more importantly, increases the body's production of heat and which opposes the effect of cooling. However, in nature there is a way of triggering hypothermia that reduces thermogenesis: torpor.Torpor is a reversible regulated state of reduced body temperature and metabolism. It occurs naturally in some animals in response to food shortage. Hibernation is the name of one form of profound torpor that occurs seasonally. However, recent research has shown that particular drugs can be used to trigger torpor in animals that do not naturally go into torpor. Other research has shown that even some primates naturally go into torpor. As a result, there is growing promise that the neuroprotective properties of torpor can be harnessed to develop new effective treatments for stroke. However, before this can happen, several questions need to be answered:1) How does torpor affect brain activity? 2) How does torpor affect brain function?3) Does inducing torpor using drugs protect the brain against damage resulting from a stroke?In order to investigate these questions, the following experiments will be performed in mice:1) Recording of brain activity during torpor2) Assessing how performance in a tests of brain function is affected by torpor 3) Assessing how torpor affects the extent of brain damage and impairment of function that would be caused by a stroke