Grant: Project Grant

The brain uses more energy than any other organ, accounting for 20% of the resting metabolism despite accounting for only 2% of the body weight. Brain activity triggers increases in local energy supply by sending signals to blood vessels that increase blood flow in activated regions. These increases in blood flow are used to map human brain activity in health and disease, and their dysfunction is implicated in several brain diseases and disorders. Yet, there is a lack of understanding on how brain activity is translated into blood flow changes across the brain's complex tree-like network of blood vessels. Previous work by us and others have identified a sub-population of cells called pericytes which enwrap specific zones of the brain's microvasculature as important players in blood flow regulation. We propose a series of experiments using advanced imaging techniques to test whether cells on specific types of blood vessels communicate with neural circuit activity to regulate blood flow delivery across different spatial domains. This work will shed light on the intricate relationship between brain circuits and blood flow control in the healthy brain, and open doors for understanding how its dysfunction contributes to cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative diseases. This work will also improve interpretation of non-invasive hemodynamic imaging signals, such as fMRI, which measure vascular surrogates of brain activity in health and disease.