Network-driven anomalous transport is a fundamental component of brain microvascular dysfunction

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Biophysics
• Computational Biology

Background:

• Brain microcirculation is vital for neuronal function, supplying oxygen and nutrients while removing waste.
• The complex vascular network causes heterogeneous blood flow, impacting brain health.
• The origins and consequences of this heterogeneity on brain pathophysiology are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish the physical laws governing macroscopic transport properties in brain microcirculation.
• To understand the impact of microvascular dysfunction on brain diseases like Alzheimer's Disease.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of highly-resolved intracortical blood flow and transport simulations.
• Development of a Continuous-Time Random Walk theory to model transport dynamics.

Main Results:

• Network-driven anomalous transport creates critical regions prone to hypoxia or amyloid-β accumulation.
• These critical regions emerge earlier than predicted by empirical models under mild hypoperfusion.
• The study establishes governing physical laws for brain microcirculation transport.

Conclusions:

• The findings provide a new framework for understanding microvascular dysfunction in neurological diseases.
• The developed theory accurately captures anomalous transport dynamics in the brain's microvasculature.
• This research sheds light on the early mechanisms of neurodegeneration linked to impaired blood flow.