Vasomotor dynamics: Measuring, modeling, and understanding the other network in the brain

Much as Santiago Ramón y Cajal is the godfather of neuronal computation, which occurs among neurons that communicate predominantly via threshold logic, Camillo Golgi is the inadvertent godfather of neurovascular signaling, in which the endothelial cells that form the lumen of blood vessels communicate via electrodiffusion as well as threshold logic. I will address questions that define spatiotemporal patterns of constriction and dilation that develop across the network of cortical vasculature: First - is there a common topology and geometry of brain vasculature (our work)? Second - what mechanisms govern neuron-to-vessel and vessel-to-vessel signaling (work of Mark Nelson at U Vermont)? Last - what is the nature of competition among arteriole smooth muscle oscillators and the underlying neuronal drive (our work)? This answers to these questions bear on fundamental aspects of brain science as well as practical issues, including the relation of fMRI signals to neuronal activity and the impact of vascular dysfunction on cognition. Challenges and opportunities for experimentalists and theorists alike will be discussed.

The organizer explicitly announced an exceptional 11:15 am ET start.