ELSC Seminar Series

Pial arterioles form an interconnected network that distribute blood across the cortical mantle and source nourishment to brain cells. Far from a passive network, the diameter of these arterioles intrinsically oscillate in the ~ 0.1 Hz vasomotor band. The pial arterioles integrate activity from neighboring arterioles, underlying neurons, and subcortical nuclei to produce space-time patterns of coherent oscillations. A fascinating issue is that the patterns of arteriole motion do not fully reflect the input received from the neurons directly below them. I will present and discuss optical and MR experiments and their analysis that seek to understand these patterns and exploit them to infer underlying neuronal activity.