The Mongolian gerbil brain lies in the anatomy of the blood vessels supplying blood to the brain. In all mammals, there is a special mechanism that compensates for the decreased blood flow to the brain in the case of development of stroke. This mechanism is missing in the gerbil and therefore makes the Mongolian gerbil a unique model for stroke. Dr. Mayevsky adopted the gerbil as a model for stroke and his laboratory uniquely studied the mitochondria in the gerbil brain under various pathophysiological conditions.

This book describes the history of the Mongolian gerbil in...