A mathematical model relating neural activity to cerebral blood flow

老龄化人口越来越容易患上神经退行性疾病，与之相关的精神障碍可能严重扰乱患者和照顾者的生活。非侵入性脑成像技术被用于诊断和监督此类疾病的治疗，但目前对潜在生理学的缺乏了解使这些方法受到批评。建立这种成像所依据的基本过程的详细量化模型将使人们能够准确地解释这种脑扫描，并增加它们作为研究和治疗工具的有用性。

An ageing population is increasingly prone to neurodegenerative disease and the associated mental impairment can severely disrupt the lives of both the sufferers and the carers. Non-invasive brain imaging techniques are used to both diagnose and supervise treatment of such disease, but at present a lack of understanding of the underlying physiology leaves these methods open to criticism. The construction of a detailed quantitative model of the basic processes underlying this imaging will enable precise interpretation of such brain scans and increase their usefulness both as a research and as a therapeutic tool.