The selfish brain: using high resolution 7 Tesla MRI of the human brain to investigate hypertension

血压受大脑控制，在相当大比例的顽固性高血压患者中，大脑控制机制的问题可能是根本原因。人们对这些中枢控制机制知之甚少，因为到目前为止，它们很难在人类身上进行研究。新的卡迪夫大学脑研究成像中心(Cubric)及其超高场(7特斯拉；7T)MRI系统(英国第三个此类系统)拥有解决这一问题的工具。7T MRI允许高空间分辨率的功能磁共振成像(FMRI)和血管成像，使我们第一次能够可视化参与控制人类血压的关键大脑区域和被认为随着年龄和高血压而改变的小动脉，从而增加它们的血流阻力。该项目的目标是：开发7T功能和结构血管成像方案和分析管道，以可靠地绘制这些脑区和供应深部脑组织的细小穿透动脉；展示健康志愿者在血压正常波动时参与血压控制的神经网络的扰动；与对照组相比，表征高血压患者的神经网络功能，并量化可能导致“自私大脑假说”下的高血压的血管阻力变化。该项目是跨学科的，要求学生具有物理科学背景，并有兴趣将其应用于临床相关的生理学问题。最初的挑战将是提高图像分辨率，以定位小脑干核团和小血管。这将涉及到对磁共振成像、信号处理和图像配准的良好理解。这种方法的可行性最近刚刚在牛津大学7T的脑干呼吸控制中心的调查中得到证明。实验方法将被用来绘制健康志愿者和高血压患者血压波动期间的相关大脑网络图，使用简单的任务，如“握手”，这会暂时升高血压。

BP is under the control of the brain and in a substantial proportion of patients with intractable hypertension it is thought that problems with the brain's control mechanisms may be the root cause. These central control mechanisms are poorlyunderstood, since, hitherto, they have been hard to study in humans. The new Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) with its ultra-high field (7 Tesla; 7T) MRI system (the third of its kind in the UK) has the tools to address this problem. 7T MRI permits functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and vascular imaging with high spatial resolution allowing us to visualise, for the first time, key brain regions involved in the control of BP in humans and the small arteries that are seen to alter with age and hypertension, increasing their resistance to flow. The project aims to: Develop the 7T functional and structural vascular imaging protocols and analysis pipelines to reliably map these brain regions and small penetrating arteries that supply deep brain tissue;Demonstrate perturbations to the neural networks involved in blood pressure control in healthy volunteers during normal fluctuations in blood pressure; Characterise neural network function in hypertensive patients in comparison to controls and quantify alterations to vascular resistance that may cause hypertension under the 'selfish brain hypothesis'. The project is interdisciplinary, requiring a student with a physical science background and an interest in applying this to clinical relevant physiological questions. The initial challenges will be to improve image resolution to localise small brainstem nuclei and small vessels. This will involve a good understanding of MRI, signal processing and image registration. Feasibility of this approach has just recently been demonstrated for the investigation of brainstem respiratory control centres at 7T at the University of Oxford. Experimental approaches will be implemented to map relevant brain networksduring perturbation of BP in healthy volunteers and hypertensives, using simple tasks such as a 'handgrip', which transiently elevates BP.