Speakers
Description
Regulation of the dynamics of blood flow and pressure to, from, and within the brain is one of the most critical parts of sustaining human life. Disordered regulation in the cerebral (brain) vasculature has been associated with small vessel disease, stroke, brain tumors, traumatic brain injury, pharmaceutical use, and normal aging. In lieu of major illness, people with cerebrovascular disorders may still suffer from symptoms such as dizziness, syncope, and breathing instability that can affect quality of life. Accurately measuring cerebrovascular dynamics and surrogates of related morbidity continues to be a focus of clinical and experimental work, though it is inherently limited by practical and ethical concerns. As such the factors driving cerebrovascular dynamics, its regulation, and their manifestations are still not well understood. Computational modeling coupled with clinical data can help determine the factors most influencing dynamics and ultimately help predictions at the individual level, while providing a critical means to study fragile populations and address scenarios with a scarcity of data. This minisymposium will focus on recent mathematical and computational models of cerebrovascular dynamics that may help uncover possible mechanisms underlying various conditions.
