This chapter differs from those preceding it in that it does not treat a single theme but several. Rather than concentrate on one particular field of barrel cortex research, this chapter explores research in several new and emerging fields. Each field is characterized by a strong continuing development of methodology. In each case, barrel cortex is either the central focus of the research or is particularly well suited to help to further research in an allied field. The area of cortical blood flow and stroke research is a good example of the latter category. Many of the common cortical strokes that lead to paralysis are caused by occlusions that involve or affect the middle cerebral artery, which supplies the somatosensory cortex in general and the barrel cortex in rats and mice. Stroke research is in many ways ideally suited to study in barrel cortex because the cortical tissue affected by the stroke can be readily defined from the barrel field histology and the clinically relevant artery can be occluded to observe its effect on barrel cortex blood flow, angiogenesis, cell death and recovery of function.

Arguably some of the topics treated in this section warrant chapters of their own or could add considerably to the previous chapters in this book. The reason they have been grouped together in one chapter stems from two main factors.