CRCNS: Imaging and Modeling of Cortical Microvascular Dynamics

CRCNS：皮质微血管动力学的成像和建模

• 批准号: 7215399
• 负责人: Gert Cauwenberghs
• 金额: $ 32.14万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-09-01 至 2010-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7215399
• 关键词: behavior test; bioengineering /biomedical engineering; biosensor device; brain imaging /visualization /scanning; cerebral cortex; cerebrovascular imaging /visualization; computational neuroscience; erythrocytes; experimental brain lesion; fluorescence microscopy; hemodynamics; laboratory rat; microcirculation; miniature biomedical equipment; neural transmission; optical tomography; reperfusion; stimulus /response; stroke; technology /technique development; touch; vibrissae

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): As the supplier of nutrients to the brain, the cerebral vascular network is as crucial to normal brain function as the neurons themselves. This collaborative project aims to bridge computational and experimental approaches across neuroscience, biomedical imaging, and electrical and computer engineering to advance the fundamental understanding of coupling between neural and vascular activity at extensive spatial and temporal scales. The experimental study will focus on the rat somatosensory system with exposed cortical surface for optical access. We will develop laser speckle contrast and two-photon fluorescence imaging techniques for functional imaging of blood flow on the cortical surface at microvessel and millisecond scale resolution. The custom designed image sensor will be integrated in a micro-optic enclosure that facilitates in vivo studies in awake, behaving rodents. Experiments that utilize whisker stimulation and arterial blocking agents will supply valuable data to construct and validate spatiotemporal models of neurovascular coupling and hemodynamics in cortical arterial networks. We anticipate that this research will contribute to both fundamental advances in computational neuroscience studies of neurovascular dynamics in healthy brain, and biomedical aspects of diseased brain and its means of recovery. The research is significant in that it will explain at a quantitative level the mechanisms of blood flow and dilation in microvessels in relation to functional brain activity. This will lead to better quantitative understanding of the effect of 'blood steal' in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of closely spaced regions of neural activity. Effects of stroke will be emulated by arterial occlusion to study reperfusion of affected brain areas. The significance of this study is that it allows to quantify the extent of spontaneous and drug-induced brain recovery after stroke, by observing changes in brain vascular activity in response to functional stimulation. The project provides unique opportunities for training of engineering and neuroscience students participating in an interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaborative research program.

描述（由申请人提供）：作为大脑营养的供应商，大脑血管网络对正常的大脑功能与神经元本身至关重要。该协作项目旨在跨越神经科学，生物医学成像以及电气和计算机工程的计算和实验方法，以促进广泛的空间和时间尺度上神经和血管活动之间耦合的基本理解。实验研究将重点放在带有暴露皮质表面的大鼠体感系统上。我们将开发激光斑点对比度和两光子荧光成像技术，用于在微血管和毫秒尺度分辨率下在皮质表面上的血流功能成像。定制设计的图像传感器将集成在微观围栏中，该机箱有助于醒着，表现啮齿动物的体内研究。利用晶须刺激和动脉阻塞剂的实验将提供有价值的数据，以构建和验证皮质动脉网络中神经血管耦合和血液动力学的时空模型。 我们预计，这项研究将有助于健康大脑中神经血管动态的计算神经科学研究以及患病大脑的生物医学方面及其康复手段的基本进步。这项研究很重要，因为它将在定量水平上解释微血管在功能性脑活动方面的血流和扩张的机制。这将导致对神经活动的紧密间隔区域的功能磁共振成像（fMRI）对“血液窃取”的影响更好地定量理解。中风的影响将通过动脉阻塞来模仿，以研究受影响的大脑区域的再灌注。这项研究的意义在于，它允许通过观察响应功能刺激的脑血管活性的变化来量化中风后自发和药物诱导的脑恢复的程度。该项目为参加跨学科和机构间合作研究计划的工程和神经科学学生提供了独特的机会。