German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Ludwig-Erhard-Allee 2, 53175 Bonn, Germany.
Neuron. 2011 Sep 8;71(5):782-97. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.08.009.
Neural activity is intimately tied to blood flow in the brain. This coupling is specific enough in space and time that modern imaging methods use local hemodynamics as a measure of brain activity. In this review, we discuss recent evidence indicating that neuronal activity is coupled to local blood flow changes through an intermediary, the astrocyte. We highlight unresolved issues regarding the role of astrocytes and propose ways to address them using novel techniques. Our focus is on cellular level analysis in vivo, but we also relate mechanistic insights gained from ex vivo experiments to native tissue. We also review some strategies to harness advances in optical and genetic methods to study neurovascular coupling in the intact brain.
神经活动与大脑中的血液流动密切相关。这种耦合在空间和时间上具有足够的特异性，以至于现代成像方法将局部血液动力学用作大脑活动的测量指标。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了最近的证据，表明神经元活动通过中间物——星形胶质细胞与局部血流变化相耦合。我们强调了关于星形胶质细胞作用的未解决问题，并提出了使用新技术解决这些问题的方法。我们的重点是体内的细胞水平分析，但我们也将从离体实验中获得的机制见解与天然组织联系起来。我们还回顾了一些策略，以利用光学和遗传方法的进展来研究完整大脑中的神经血管耦合。
