Fig. (5) A) Ex vivo 3D DTI (axial slice, posterior view) showing the striato-thalamic tract. Red fiber trajectories originating from the stroke region in the IL striatum pass through the thalamus. Similarly, green fiber solutions from the CL striatum pass through the thalamus but also through the corpus callosum and terminate in the CL lesioned striatum. B) Luxol fast Blue-stained coronal section of the brain showing an intact thalamus with a well-demarcated striatal lesion. C) Magnified image of an adjacent coronal section showing increased GAP43 staining within the striatum. D) Sham brain showing no fiber trajectories connecting the IL and CL striatal re-gions and E) Un-lesioned thalamus showing very little (normal) GAP43 staining.