Why is the neural control of cerebral autoregulation so controversial?

Cerebral autoregulation refers to the mechanisms that act to keep cerebral blood flow (CBF) constant during changes in blood pressure. The mechanisms of cerebral autoregulation, especially in humans, are poorly understood but are undoubtedly multifactorial and likely reflect many redundant pathways that potentially differ between species. Whether sympathetic nervous activity influences CBF and/or cerebral autoregulation in humans remains controversial. Following a brief introduction to cerebral autoregulation, this review highlights the likely reasons behind the controversy of the neural control of cerebral autoregulation. Finally, suggestions are provided for further studies to improve the understanding of the neural control of CBF regulation.

• Publication year

  2014

• Venue

  F1000Prime Reports

• Publication date

  2014-03-03

• Fields of study

  Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.12703/P6-14PMID 24669295PMCID 3944747
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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