Cholinergic basal forebrain neurons regulate vascular dynamics and cerebrospinal fluid flux

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 5343 - 15
• Main Authors: Chuang, Kai-Hsiang, Zhou, Xiaoqing Alice, Xia, Ying, Li, Zengmin, Qian, Lei, Eeles, Eamonn, Ngiam, Grace, Fripp, Jurgen, Coulson, Elizabeth J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 23.06.2025; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 13/1; 13/51; 14; 14/34; 59; 59/36; 59/57; 631/378/2607; 631/378/3920; 692/308/575; Acetylcholinesterase; Aged; Aging; Alzheimer's disease; Animals; Basal forebrain; Basal Forebrain - blood supply; Basal Forebrain - cytology; Basal Forebrain - metabolism; Basal Forebrain - physiology; Blood levels; Brain; Cerebrospinal fluid; Cerebrospinal Fluid - metabolism; Cholinergic Neurons - drug effects; Cholinergic Neurons - metabolism; Cholinergic Neurons - physiology; Cholinergics; Cholinesterase inhibitors; Cholinesterase Inhibitors - pharmacology; Cognitive ability; Coupling; Disease; Efflux; Female; Forebrain; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Glymphatic System - diagnostic imaging; Glymphatic System - drug effects; Glymphatic System - metabolism; Glymphatic System - physiology; Human subjects; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Neurons; Oxygen - blood; Oxygenation; Pathogenesis; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60812-3

Brain waste is cleared via a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pathway, the glymphatic system, whose dysfunction may underlie many brain conditions. Previous studies show coherent vascular oscillation, measured by blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI, couples with CSF inflow to drive fluid flux. Ye...