Penn State engineers find link between nitric oxide expressing neurons and arterial dilation
Neurons control blood flow in tiny vessels in the brain, but researchers know little about this relationship. Now a team of Penn State engineers has found a connection between nitric oxide expressing neurons and changes in arterial diameters in mice, which may shed light on brain function and aging.
The brain has many types of neurons. People have observed that blood flow and neural activity go together, and we wanted to measure the blood flow and activity in specific subtypes of neurons."
Patrick J. Drew, Huck Distinguished Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Neurosurgery and Biomedical Engineering