A study led by researchers at UCL has discovered the mechanism that allows the brain to monitor its own blood supply, a finding in rats which may help to find new treatments for human conditions including hypertension (high blood pressure) and dementia.
For decades, scientists have suspected that the brain had a way of monitoring and regulating its own blood flow separate from the body-wide blood pressure control system, but until now no one had proven this.
The brain needs more blood than any other organ to satisfy neurons’ relentless, high demand for oxygen, so it makes sense that it would have a way of buffering itself from blood flow fluctuations in the wider body….
