Blood Brain Barrier Essay

In Allan Jones’s presentation, A Map of the Brain, he explains his current project and why is essential to the modern day. Jones first starts off by giving the audience some background information about the brain. He states that the brain is a complex organ that receives around twenty percent of the blood from our hearts as well as twenty percent of the oxygen from our lungs. Jones explains that the brain is essential to the body because it controls everything we do. Even though the brain is very complex, it does not mean that it is not organized and structured. In the past century, scientists have created a blue stain that stains neuron bodies. This showed scientists that neurons were unevenly distributed throughout the brain depending on

Brain stem is considered to be one of the most primitive parts of the brain that is crucial to human survival. As thoroughly explicated by most scholars and anatomist throughout the centuries, it regulates the most fundamental physiological activities of the human body which are essential for maintaining and sustaining life. This is how each function is utilized in medical practice to define death through different research and experiments.

Biological membranes must be semi-permeable to allow the passage of substances in and out of the cell. The semi-permeability allows the passage of substances such as proteins, nutrients, and more to be regulated. Only substances of a particular size can go into the cell and only these certain small substances will be allowed to exit the cell.

The brain is a soft, delicate, non-replaceable and spongy mass of tissue. Brain is considered as a kernel part of the body and has a very complex structure. The brain consists of mainly two types of tissues: gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM). The brain also contains a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that consists of enzymes, glucose, salts, and white blood cells. The brain is divided into three major parts, the hindbrain (including the cerebellum and the brain stem), the midbrain, and the forebrain (including the diencephalon and the cerebrum).The body is made up of many

In the article “Head Rush,” Laura Sanders explains the role blood has upon our brain. As blood travels our body, it takes in our information, thoroughly giving us details on our health ,genetics and many more. Our blood actually has a bigger job that many of us didn’t know about. Past experiments are suggesting that blood has the power to control nerve cell, instead of just taking commands from them. Science textbooks point out that astrocytes connect neurons and blood vessels, but it is still uncertain as to how neurons receives its signal to carry blood to the brain. Sanders talks about two neuroscientists Robert Hill and Jaime Grutzendler of Yale University published work. Hill claims that, “endothelial cells are perfectly poised to detect

amount of the fluid that protects the brain and spinal cord. The fluid is tested to

Correspondingly, there are two pathways that transports blood to the brain called internal carotid artery and vertebral artery. The internal carotid artery has three layers call the tunica adventitia, tunica media, and tunica intima. Tunica intima is made up of smooth muscle cells and elastin. The basilar artery forms and it branches out to the posterior cerebral arteries. The posterior cerebral arteries form the internal carotid arteries and when they connect they make cerebral arterial circle ( circle of willis). The middle cerebral arteries branch out two separate arteries called the anterior cerebral arteries. Each of these arteries are the force that direct the blood flow to the brain. There are three tiny vascular systems that work together to profuse the deep brain. Which are the pial, subependymal, and lenticulostriate arteries. The small area of white matter that depends on blood flow is called the subcortical “shed water” area. The subcortical is more prone than other areas of the brain to have ischemia. The leading cause of ischemia is the fibrin builds up and this cause a narrowing of the lumen. Which does not allow the flow of red blood cells and deprives the white matter of tissue of oxygen. The tissue then losses density and produces white matter lesions. The neurons become demyelinated which leads to loss of cognitive ability.

The brain is supplied with blood by two internal carotid arteries and two vertebral arteries. These arteries form the anastomosis known as the Circle of Willis. In 1951, two researchers, McDonald and Potter demonstrated that, "the blood supply to half of the

Continuous Capillaries: Has a continuous lining of endothelial cells. Found in the skeletal muscle, lung, and many types of connective tissue. They contain small openings called intracellular clefts between the adjacent endothelial cells. Found in areas of the body such as the central nervous system, skeletal muscles, and skin.

In the Washington Post article "Scientists find the brain's missing ‘pipes’," the author, Amy Ellis Nutt, explains the discovery of microscopic lymphatic vessels located in the brain of a mouse found by scientists at the University of Virginia. In general terms, lymphatic vessels function as the body's immune cell distributor and the main transporter of tissue fluids that were once believed to be found virtually anywhere in the body, but not within the brain area. However, this recent scientific revelation validates that these vessels might be the ‘missing’ physical link which connects the brain to the immune system. The fact that sufficient advances in microscopy for the task has only been available recently, combined with the difficulty in

To understand the importance of this, one must know just exactly what the BBB is. The BBB is a unique feature of a human body’s defense system. Since the brain is obviously

Stratum Granulosum is another shallow layer; it is made up 3 to 5 layers of flat packed grainy cells called kertaohylain cells which act similar to a water filter, to absorb any foreign bodies. This eases water loss and keeps up hydration in the skin.

“Rapid movement of the brain puts stress on blood vessels in the subarachnoid space, which causes them to rupture. The subarachnoid space, which is normally filled with cerebrospinal fluid, fills with blood. Compared to a subdural hematoma, bleeding in a subarachnoid hemorrhage is spread diffusely through the subarachnoid space, so it does not

The fluid in the brain (cerebrospinal fluid or CSF) is formed in the brain. CSF usually circulates through parts of the brain, its covering, and the spinal canal, and is then absorbed into the circulatory system.

     Tight junctions seal together the enclothelial cells of brain capillaries, which also are surrounded by a thick basement membrain. The process of many astrocyties pressing up against the capillaries is known as the Astrocyties Process. This process selectively passes some substances from the blood to the neurons, at the same time, inhibiting the passage of others.