Prefrontal cortex stroke induces delayed impairment in spatial memory

•Stroke to the PFC of mice does not affect motor function or anxiety.•Stroke to the PFC of mice does not affect novel object recognition.•Stroke to the PFC of mice results in delayed onset impairment in spatial memory.•Stroke to the PFC of mice results in decreased volume of the medial dorsal thalamic nuclei.•We describe here a model of stroke that can be used to assess the underlying causes of delayed impairments in cognition.