Photothrombotic Model to Create an Infarct in the Hippocampus.

Photothrombosis is one of the techniques available to reproduce ischemic injuries in animal models. Most of the studies that use photothrombosis resort to this technique as it is highly reproducible and minimally invasive to target cortical brain regions, such as the motor or somatosensory areas. However, this technique can be modified and adapted to virtually target any brain region, including deeper tissue. Here, we describe some variations on the traditional protocol to use the photothrombotic technique to target the longitudinal hippocampal vein in the adult mouse and cause an ischemic injury in the hippocampus.