Using Imaging to Examine Cerebrospinal Fluid Flow

The glymphatic system is a recently discovered anatomical pathway for clearing toxic waste from the central nervous system via cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow. Impaired brain waste clearance has been linked to the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Intriguingly, this waste clearance pathway is most active during sleep. This fact has posed a significant challenge for glymphatic researchers as the vast majority of studies on the system have been performed under anesthesia, which is a fundamentally different physiological state from natural sleep. This choice is due to the incredibly difficult nature of conducting natural sleep experiments.

PhD student Cooper Gray (Mechanical Engineering), in a project called “Novel insights into CSF flow alterations to inform future treatment of neurodegenerative diseases,” is examining CSF transport in the living mouse brain during natural sleep by leveraging state-of-the-art imaging and bio-sensing technologies from the lab of Assistant Professor Suhasa Bangalore Kondandaramaiah (Mechanical Engineering). This project is one of the first of its kind. By using the Kodandaramaiah lab’s miniaturized microscopes and electrocorticography arrays, the researchers will simultaneously record neural activity and image the flow of CSF. Using fluid mechanical techniques, they will then measure CSF flow velocities and quantify the impact of neural activity. The results will provide novel insights into fundamentals of glymphatic function and help inform researchers and clinicians how to better treat and prevent neurodegenerative diseases.

Some funding for this project was provided by a DSI-MnDRIVE PhD Graduate Assistantship. The DSI-MnDRIVE Graduate Assistantship program supports U of M PhD candidates pursuing research at the intersection of data science and any of the five MnDRIVE  areas: 

  • Robotics
  • Global Food 
  • Environment
  • Conditions
  • Cancer Clinical Trials

Projects in this program must align with one of the Data Science Tracks:

  • Foundational Data Science
  • Digital Health and Personalized Health Care Delivery

This project is part of the Brain Conditions MnDRIVE area and the Foundational Data Sciences track. See the complete list of the RC-MnDRIVE Graduate Assistantships. 

 

comparison of imaging methods