Objective To investigate the effect of transplanted bone marrow stromal cells on the cells in the subventricular zone of the rats with permanent focal cerebral ischemia and analyze cell types. Methods Permanent focal cerebral ischemia models were established with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and divided into three groups: MCAO alone, intravenous infusion of 1ml PBS at 24 hours after MCAO, and intravenous infusion of 2×10SUP>6/SUP> BMSCs 24 hours after MCAO. Then, the groups were subdivided into 7-day and 14-day groups after MACO. Neurological functions were detected by Zausinger evaluation; meanwhile, 5-bromodeoxyuridine was injected to label the proliferating cells in the subventricular zone, and double-immunofluscent technologies were used to identify the cell type. Results On the 7th day and the 14th day after MACO, neurological functional scores of BMSCstreated group were higher than those of the other two groups (EM>P/EM><0.05). On the 14th day after MCAO, BrdU-positive cells in SVZ of ipsilateral ischemia of BMSCstreated group were more than those in the two controls (EM>P/EM><0.05); double-immunofluorescence label demonstrated that BrdU-positive were collocated with markers of neuron and astrocyte. Conclusion BMSCs can promote the neurological function of the rats with permanent focal cerebral ischemia and this action may be related with the neurogenesis in the subventric