Assessment of Neurovascular Coupling - Animal Models of Acute Neurological Injuries: Injury and Mechanistic Assessments - page 335

Chapter 24
Assessment of Neurovascular Coupling
Cecilia Nicoletti , Nikolas Offenhauser , Devi Jorks , Sebastian Major ,
and Jens P. Dreier
Abstract
Animal models are of great importance for studies on regional cerebral blood fl ow (rCBF) regulation in
the normal and diseased brain. The complex interplay among neuronal, metabolic, and vascular signaling
cascades in the regulation of brain blood fl ow requires its study in the intact living brain. This chapter
provides a description of animal surgery, and explains how to implant cranial windows in order to investi-
gate mechanisms of neurovascular coupling. Frequently used methods for the assessment of rCBF in
response to neuronal depolarization are explained.
Key words: Cerebral blood fl ow, Spreading depolarization, Spreading ischemia, Neurovascular coupling,
In vivo, Methods, Cranial window, Microelectrodes
1. Introduction
In the normal brain, local changes in glucose metabolism and
regional cerebral blood fl ow (rCBF) accompany increases of physi-
ological neuronal activity. The brain's ability to establish a match
between energy demand and supply is known as neurovascular-
neurometabolic coupling and essential to maintain homeostasis of
the cerebral microenvironment, normal brain function, and cell
viability. In the normal brain, vasomotor responses are not only
driven by direct interaction between neurons and vascular cells,
but also indirectly via release of mediators from activated pre- and
postsynaptic neurons, perivascular nerves, and perivascular astro-
cytes ( 1 ). Hereby, neurons, glial and vascular cells (endothelial and
vascular smooth muscle cells), constitute a functional unit, which
enables local changes in blood fl ow according to spatial and temporal
Cecilia Nicoletti and Nikolas Offenhauser contributed equally to this work.