Basic mechanisms and factors influencing the neurovascular coupling in the eye

Abstract

AbstractNeuro‐vascular coupling is a basic physiological mechanism in the eye that allows for adapting retinal and optic nerve head blood flow to changing metabolic demands, induced by an increase in neural activity. Despite many efforts, the mechanisms that leads to this coupling process are largely unknown. Among others, nitric oxide seems to play an important role in the vasodilatory answer. It has been shown that the unspecific blockade of nitric‐oxide syntheses leads to a pronounced reduction of flicker induced vasodilatation in healthy subjects. This indicates that nitric oxide plays an important role in this signaling cascade. Additionally, there is evidence that astrocytes act as a mediator between ganglion cells and blood vessels in the retina. This hypothesis is strengthened by the observation that the presence and distribution of retinal astrocytes correlates with the presence and distribution of retinal blood vessels. This talk will summarize the concept of neuro‐vascular coupling in the eye and give an overview about our current understanding of the mechanisms and factors involved in this process.