Although a previous study in this laboratory determined that Purkinje cells of the rat cerebellum did not appear to be damaged following 30 min of forebrain ischemia followed by 30 min of reperfusion, it was suggested that an increase in rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) and/or polysomes had occurred in these cells. The primary objective of the present study was to morphometrically determine whether or not this increase had occurred. In addition, since there is substantial evidence that glial cells may be affected by ischemia earlier than other cell types, glial cells also were examined. To ascertain possible effects on other cerebellar components, granule cells and neuropil near Purkinje cells as well as neuropil in the molecular layer also were evaluated in this investigation.