Brain Dynamics Workshop

This half-day workshop will bring together researchers interested in the mathematical, computational, and physical modeling of brain function. Topics will include brain mechanics, fluid and transport processes, sleep and clearance mechanisms, and related multiscale dynamics, with an emphasis on how modeling and data can be integrated to better understand brain physiology and dysfunction.

Schedule:

12:00–1:30 pm: Lunch & Networking

1:30–2:30 pm: Patrick Drew
TITLE: Imaging Brain Mechanics
ABSTRACT: The brain is protected from external forces by the skull and cushioned by cerebrospinal fluid. However, the brain is still subject to mechanical forces from blood vessel dilation and pressure changes in other body compartments. I will present imaging data from my lab showing how vascular dilation (in response both to sensory stimulation and sleep) drives fluid displacement and tissue motion, and how body movements can drive brain motion and venous compression.

2:30–3:30 pm: Francesco Costanzo
TITLE: Brain Motion and Functional Hyperemia as Drivers of Convective Fluid Flow in the CNS
ABSTRACT: More than ten years ago, the glymphatic system hypothesis was proposed whereby metabolites are removed from the brain’s extracellular space by convective exchange between interstitial fluid and cerebrospinal fluid. The pathway for this exchange was proposed to be the paravascular spaces around cerebral blood vessels, and the driver was hypothesized to be arterial pulsation. The glymphatic system hypothesis has spurred a vibrant discussion that includes both experimental research and mathematical modeling. Our group has contributed to this discussion, showing that arterial pulsation might contribute to directional pumping but does not appear to be a primary cause of convective flow. We showed that the modeling of convective flow in the brain must account for the deformability of brain tissue. Furthermore, we have shown that there are at least two additional drivers of convective flow that ought to be considered, namely functional hyperemia and brain motion, where by brain motion we mean the response of the CNS to mechanical stimulus exerted on the spinal cord by the vertebral venous plexus. In this talk, I will review our modeling approach and the main results that we have contributed so far.

3:30–4:30 pm: Andreas Linninger
TITLE: From Recognition to Rigor: The Cerebral Vasculature as an Acknowledged yet Elusive Driver of Intracranial Dynamics
ABSTRACT: The cerebral vasculature sustains brain function by delivering oxygen and nutrients, removing metabolic byproducts, and regulating flow in response to neuronal activity. Activity-driven increases in blood flow (functional hyperemia), tightly coupled to neuronal activation (neurovascular coupling), underpin functional imaging via BOLD MRI. Vascular pulsatility also drives cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) motion, supporting homeostasis and promoting interstitial fluid transport in perivascular spaces (glymphatic system).

Despite its central role, the cerebrovascular dynamics remains resistant to mechanistic modeling due to its intricate anatomy and tightly coupled blood–brain transport processes. Simplified representations—such as lumped compartments, single segments (Krogh cylinder), or binary trees—are widely used, entrenching the incorrect assumption that anatomically faithful modeling is not possible.

We demonstrate that anatomically resolved vascular networks can be accurately reconstructed as graphs from existing neuroimaging data. We further present new insights into intracranial transport derived from first principles within a rigorous graph-theoretical framework. By capturing vascular structure, hemodynamics, and metabolic coupling, this graph-based approach enables systematic investigation of intracranial dynamics without relying on the restrictive geometric simplifications common in traditional models.

5:30 pm: Dinner

Contact

  Wenrui Hao
  wxh64@psu.edu