Ultrastructural changes in the sensomotor cortex of the rabbit after complete 30-min brain ischemia.

Experiments were performed on rabbits in which complete 30-min brain ischemia was induced. Electron-microscopic studies revealed higher susceptibility to ischemia of the motor cortex than the sensory cortex, which was manifested by a higher number of damaged nerve cells in the former than in the latter. Ultrastructural abnormalities of motor cortex neurons, including the presence of numerous vesicular structures in the cell nuclei, swelling of mitochondria, and an increase in the number of intracytoplasmic fibrillary structures appeared 3 h after blood recirculation and became more intensive after 6 h.