Along the Pia

Forming pockets that stretch along the brain’s blood vessels, perivascular spaces serve as outlets for sluicing waste chemicals, but exactly how they work throughout our lives is a little mysterious. Investigating inside this mouse’s brain (with its cells highlighted in blue), researchers find clues in the pia mater (green) – a tender layer of brain tissue that blood vessels (red) pass through on their way into or out from the brain. It was previously thought that pia acts as a barrier, restricting the flow of brain fluids, but the scientists now believe pia acts more like a filter, adjusting the flow of chemicals in cerebrospinal fluid flowing around perivascular spaces, and potentially changing as we age. Investigating further may help to guide pia’s role in sieving out waste chemicals that may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease in later life.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Video from work by Humberto Mestre and colleagues
• Center for Translational Neuromedicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA
• Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in Nature Communications, July 2022