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Emerging Roles of Microfluidics in Brain Research: From Cerebral Fluids Manipulation to Brain-on-a-Chip and
Jiandi Wan1, Sitong Zhou1, Hing Jii Mea1
1Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Davis, California 95616, United States.
Chemical Reviews
|January 26, 2022
Summary
Microfluidics offers new ways to study the gut-brain axis (GBA) and brain fluid dynamics. This technology helps researchers understand how the gut and brain communicate and regulate brain functions.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Biomedical Engineering
- Physiology
Background:
- Recent advances enable neuronal activity manipulation, aiding nervous system-behavior research.
- Discovery of brain lymphatic systems and gut-brain axis (GBA) revelations revolutionize brain function understanding.
- Key questions remain regarding gut-brain communication and regulation of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
Purpose of the Study:
- To review microfluidic approaches for investigating brain functions.
- To critically discuss current understanding of neurovascular coupling (NVC), glymphatic pathway, and GBA.
- To explore emerging technologies and future directions in microfluidic brain research.
Main Methods:
- Review of microfluidic applications in brain research.
- Analysis of brain-on-a-chip models and neuroelectronic devices.
- Discussion of techniques for microfluidic device structuring.
Main Results:
- Microfluidics provides unparalleled control for studying microscale fluid dynamics in the brain.
- Investigated dynamics of cerebral fluids, including blood and CSF.
- Developed and improved microfluidic approaches for brain research.
Conclusions:
- Microfluidics is a powerful tool for addressing fundamental questions in brain research.
- Further development of microfluidic devices will advance understanding of brain functions and diseases.
- Emerging technologies promise significant implications for future brain research.
