Stimulation prevents stroke by a whisker

UC IRVINE (US)—The most common type of stroke can be completely prevented in rats by stimulating a single whisker, according to a new study.

Strokes are the No. 3 cause of death in the United States, after heart disease and cancer, striking about 795,000 Americans each year—more than 137,000 fatally, according to the American Heart Association.

So should we be tickling our own whiskers? And what about women, who are less likely to have facial hair?

While it’s too soon to tell if the findings will translate to humans, researchers say it’s possible, and stubble is not required.

People have sensitive body parts wired to the same area of the brain as rodents’ fine-tuned whiskers.

“Stimulating the fingers, lips or face in general could all have a similar effect,” says Melissa Davis, University of California at Irvine graduate student and co-author of the study, which appears in the June issue of PLoS One.