While the biochemistry of the brain is segregated from the biochemistry of the rest of the body by the blood-brain barrier, a lining of specialized cells wrapping blood vessels that pass through the brain, large amounts of cerebrospinal fluid flow through the brain and exit into the body, carrying away metabolic waste. The major known pathways include (a) channels in the bone of the cribriform plate that drain the olfactory bulb region of the brain, and (b) the glymphatic system that is made up of fluid filled channels that parallel blood vessels where they enter and exit the brain. Both of these pathways decline in efficiency with age: the cribriform plate channels ossify and…
More Evidence for Impaired Cerebrospinal Fluid Drainage to Contribute to Neurodegeneration
While the biochemistry of the brain is segregated from the biochemistry of the rest of the body by the blood-brain barrier, a lining of specialized cells wrapping blood vessels that pass through the brain, large amounts of cerebrospinal fluid flow through the brain and exit into the body, carrying away metabolic waste. The major known pathways include (a) channels in the bone of the cribriform plate that drain the olfactory bulb region of the brain, and (b) the glymphatic system that is made up of fluid filled channels that parallel blood vessels where they enter and exit the brain. Both of these pathways decline in efficiency with age: the cribriform plate channels ossify and…