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Assessment of outcome in preclinical studies of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) is heterogenous. Through an ARUK Scottish Network supported questionnaire and workshop (mostly UK-based researchers), we aimed to determine underlying variability and what could be implemented to overcome identified challenges. Twelve UK VCI research centres were identified and invited to complete a questionnaire and attend a one-day workshop. Questionnaire responses demonstrated agreement that outcome assessments in VCI preclinical research vary by group and even those common across groups, may be performed differently. From the workshop, six themes were discussed: issues with preclinical models, reasons for choosing functional assessments, issues in interpretation of functional assessments, describing and reporting functional outcome assessments, sharing resources and expertise, and standardization of outcomes. Eight consensus points emerged demonstrating broadly that the chosen assessment should reflect the deficit being measured, and therefore that one assessment does not suit all models; guidance/standardisation on recording VCI outcome reporting is needed and that uniformity would be aided by a platform to share expertise, material, protocols and procedures thus reducing heterogeneity and so increasing potential for collaboration, comparison and replication. As a result of the workshop, UK wide consensus statements were agreed and future priorities for preclinical research identified.

Functional recovery after an experimental stroke can be assessed by multiple behavioral tests, however, there is no consensus about which test to use in long-term stroke recovery studies or whether the tests are affected by stroke surgery, post-operative care or behavioral compensation due to repeated testing. This review describes the tests most commonly used to assess motor and sensorimotor function, cognition and mood in stroke animals. Although it is difficult to predict the direction of future research, it may be possible to prevent false-positive results by selecting an appropriate task or a battery of tasks. It is also expected that the upcoming stroke recovery recommendations and the improved dialogue between academy, industry and healthcare professionals will further promote translational success., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background and Purpose: Chronic hypoperfusion in the mouse brain has been suggested to mimic aspects of vascular cognitive impairment, such as white matter damage. Although this model has attracted attention, our group has struggled to generate a reliable cognitive and pathological phenotype. This study aimed to identify neuroimaging biomarkers of brain pathology in aged, more severely hypoperfused mice., Methods: We used magnetic resonance imaging to characterize brain degeneration in mice hypoperfused by refining the surgical procedure to use the smallest reported diameter microcoils (160 μm)., Results: Acute cerebral blood flow decreases were observed in the hypoperfused group that recovered over 1 month and coincided with arterial remodeling. Increasing hypoperfusion resulted in a reduction in spatial learning abilities in the water maze that has not been previously reported. We were unable to observe severe white matter damage with histology, but a novel approach to analyze diffusion tensor imaging data, graph theory, revealed substantial reorganization of the hypoperfused brain network. A logistic regression model from the data revealed that 3 network parameters were particularly efficient at predicting group membership (global and local efficiency and degrees), and clustering coefficient was correlated with performance in the water maze., Conclusions: Overall, these findings suggest that, despite the autoregulatory abilities of the mouse brain to compensate for a sudden decrease in blood flow, there is evidence of change in the brain networks that can be used as neuroimaging biomarkers to predict outcome., (© 2017 The Authors.)