Glymphatic system

A brain-wide network of perivascular pathways that facilitates exchange between cerebrospinal fluid and interstitial fluid and helps clear waste products.

Cerebrospinal fluid: Clear fluid produced mainly by the choroid plexuses that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. It enters proposed glymphatic pathways along arteries and exchanges with brain interstitial fluid.
Blood–brain barrier: A selective interface formed chiefly by brain endothelial cells that regulates exchange between blood and brain tissue. It separates vascular blood from tissue fluid, making the proposed perivascular route distinct from ordinary blood exchange.
Iliff et al. 2012 glymphatic study: A mouse study proposing a paravascular pathway for cerebrospinal fluid influx and interstitial solute clearance. This study introduced the named system and its influential account of fluid transport.
Diffusion: The net movement of particles from regions of higher concentration to lower concentration through random motion. Diffusion can explain some solute transport without the bulk convective flow emphasized by the glymphatic model.
Interstitial fluid: Fluid occupying the spaces between cells in tissues. Its exchange with cerebrospinal fluid is central to the glymphatic model.
Choroid plexus: A network of specialized cells in the brain's ventricles that produces most cerebrospinal fluid. Its production supplies the cerebrospinal fluid that the glymphatic model tracks.
Maiken Nedergaard: A neuroscientist whose research group proposed and developed the glymphatic system model. Her group's experiments established the framework and drove much of its early investigation.
Intramural periarterial drainage: A proposed route in basement membranes of arterial walls for interstitial fluid and solute drainage. It places clearance within vessel walls rather than in open perivascular spaces.
Aquaporin 4: A water-channel protein abundant in astrocyte membranes, especially around blood vessels. Its perivascular localization has been proposed to facilitate fluid exchange, though its role remains debated.
Brain ventricles: Interconnected cavities in the brain that contain cerebrospinal fluid. They form the larger fluid system from which cerebrospinal fluid circulates toward brain surfaces.

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