In mutant mice with Purkinje cell loss (leaner Fletcher et al., 1996), nervous (Edwards et al., 1994), BALB/c npcnih (Sarna et al., 2003), C57BLKS/J spm (Sarna et al., 2003), Cacna1a null (Fletcher et al., 2001), and acid sphingomyelinase knockout (ASMKO) mice (Sarna et al., 2001), as well as mice with global brain ischemia (Welsh et al., 2002), neurodegeneration occurs according to the expression of zebrin II (Sarna and Hawkes, 2003). Here, SMPD1 is linked to brain ischemia.