The tight spatial and temporal coupling between neuronal activity and blood flow ensures
that active brain regions receive an adequate supply of oxygen and energetic metabolites.
There clearly is still an enormous amount of experimental and theoretical work to be done to
unravel the precise mechanism of neurovascular coupling, but over the last decade
significant advances have been made. The most recent studies confirm the original finding
that the activation of Ca2+ elevations in astrocyte endfeet is an essential step but also reveal …