Figure 1

Traumatic brain injury via lateral fluid-percussion (LFP). The lesion inflicted via LFP is typically located between Bregma −2,3 mm and −7,3 mm (i.). Injured regions include the ipsilateral cortex (c) but also deeper brain/brain stem structures such as hippocampal (hc), thalamic, hypothalamic (ht), pontine, and supraoptic areas (spoa) (ii.; coronar section of the brain at Bregma −4,52; arrow indicates direction of impact). The model used for this experiment reproducible creates a subdural haematoma (iii.), focal cortical contusion ipsilateral to the injured site of the brain with a characteristic pattern of haemorrhage involving subcortical white matter, adjunct cortex, subarachnoid space, hippocampus as well as deep brain structures such as thalamus, hypothalamus and pontine regions (iv.; Nissl staining), and a mass shift towards the contralateral hemisphere as a consequence of the trauma-induced ipsilateral cytotoxic/vasogenic edema (v.; T-2-weighted MRI). (modified from [31]; see also “The Rat Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates” by Praxinos and Watson; Academic Press, 1998).