Quantitative analysis of microglia morphology and associated microglia proinflammatory function revealed two important results: (1) a spatiotemporal relationship exists between microglia morphology and evolving cerebral injury in the ipsilateral hemisphere after ischemic stroke and reperfusion and (2) altered microglia function, as measured by increased phagocytic marker CD11b expression, is observed in regions of hyper- and de-ramified microglia morphologies during the evolution of cerebral injury after ischemic stroke and reperfusion. This evidence concerns the gene ITGAM and ischemic stroke.