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（申请人提供）：作为大脑营养物质的供应者，脑血管网络与神经元本身一样对大脑的正常功能至关重要。该合作项目旨在弥合神经科学、生物医学成像以及电气和计算机工程之间的计算和实验方法，以增进对广泛空间和时间尺度上神经和血管活动之间耦合的基本理解。该实验研究将重点关注具有暴露皮层表面以进行光学访问的大鼠体感系统。我们将开发激光散斑对比度和双光子荧光成像技术，以微血管和毫秒级分辨率对皮质表面的血流进行功能成像。定制设计的图像传感器将集成在微光学外壳中，以方便对清醒、行为正常的啮齿动物进行体内研究。利用胡须刺激和动脉阻断剂的实验将为构建和验证皮质动脉网络中神经血管耦合和血流动力学的时空模型提供有价值的数据。 我们预计这项研究将有助于健康大脑神经血管动力学的计算神经科学研究的基本进展，以及患病大脑及其恢复方法的生物医学方面的进展。这项研究的意义重大，因为它将在定量水平上解释微血管血流和扩张与大脑功能活动相关的机制。这将有助于更好地定量了解“血液窃取”在功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）中对神经活动紧密区域的影响。将通过动脉闭塞来模拟中风的影响，以研究受影响大脑区域的再灌注。这项研究的意义在于，通过观察脑血管活动对功能刺激的反应的变化，可以量化中风后自发和药物诱导的大脑恢复的程度。该项目为培训参与跨学科和机构间合作研究项目的工程和神经科学学生提供了独特的机会。