Glossary
Anatomy Section
astrocyte
a star-shaped glial cell which supports neurons and may play a role in signal integration.
endfoot
a portion of an astrocyte that is in contact with the vasculature.
glia
Non-neuronal cells that maintain homeostasis, form myelin, and provide support and protection for neurons in the nervous system.
in-silico
a process or experiment performed on a computer.
microcircuit
a neural circuit that includes all the local arborisations of neurons lying at the centre of the circuit (typical radius 200–500 µm).
microdomain
anatomically exclusive region occupied by one astrocyte.
morphology
the treelike structure of a neuron or astrocyte.
neuronal-glial-vascular ensemble (NGV)
the interconnected and multi-directional system between neurons, glia and the vasculature.
perivascular
attached or projecting to the vascular surface.
point graph
a graph of points connected by edges.
reconstructed morphology
digital morphology reconstructed via experimental methods, such as staining and tracing.
synthesized morphology
digital morphology generated by a computational model.
soma
the cell body or compartment in a cell that houses the nucleus.
synapse
the area of contact between neurons that enables them to exchange electrical or chemical signals and permits communication between them.
synaptic connection
the set of all synaptic contacts between the presynaptic axon and the postsynaptic dendrites or soma.
TMD
the Topology Morphology Descriptor (TMD) allows creation of a ‘barcode’ to describe the elongation and termination of branched structures.
Metabolism Section
metabolite
a substance formed in or necessary for metabolism.
metabolism
set of chemical reactions in the organism [link]
enzyme kinetics/reaction kinetics
the study of the rates of chemical reactions [link]
glycolysis
the energy metabolism pathway converting glucose into pyruvate in the series of chemical reactions [link]
glycogenolysis
the breakdown of glycogen (multibranched) to glucose-1-phosphate and the shorter molecule of glycogen [link]. In the brain, it is an important part of the astrocytes metabolism.
PPP (pentose phosphate pathway)
an energy metabolism pathway that involves production of NADPH and pentoses [link]
TCA cycle (tricarboxylic acid cycle, Krebs cycle, citric acid cycle)
cycle of chemical reactions in aerobic organisms that involves oxidation of acetyl-CoA [link]
oxidative phosphorylation
metabolic pathway with a high energy output which involves transfer of electrons by electron carriers [link]
compartment (in the context of our metabolism model)
part of the cell volume, extracellular space of a piece of vasculature, where chemical processes are taking place [link]
initial concentration
the concentration value (mM) of the molecule which is set in the beginning of the simulation for solving the system of differential equations, which describes the dynamics of all the variables in our model.
BOLD (blood-oxygen-level-dependent imaging)
common method in functional magnetic resonance imaging that allows to infer the activity based on the metabolism [link]
OGI (oxygen glucose index
the ratio of oxygen to glucoses consumption which allows to evaluate relative contributions of oxidative and non-oxidative metabolism [link]
Blood Flow
artery
vessel that branches and spreads in order to supply the tissue surrounding them. The mean artery diameter in the rat brain vasculature is larger compared to the mean vein diameter.
capillary
dense network that connects arteries and veins at the tissues. two consecutive vessels have a diameter < 7.0 μm in rodents until the capillary bed starts. No capillary with a diameter > 9.0 μm.
compliance
change in volume due to a given change in pressure.
constriction
decrease in diameter of the vasculature.
density
mass per unit volume.
dilation
increase in diameter of the vasculature.
elasticity
flexibility of the vessel wall. Property of the arterial walls depending on resistance and compliance. Elasticity helps to moderate blood pressure and blood flow.
flow
total volume of fluid passing with a given velocity a section (area) of a vessel per unit of time.
impedance (transfer impedance)
ratio representing input pressure over output flow.
pressure
measure of the force that the blood exerts against the vessel walls as it moves the blood through the vessels.
stiffness
rigidity of the vessel wall. Arteries become stiff when gradually thicken and arterial fibers decline.
resistance
vessel resistance is directly proportional to the vessel length and the blood viscosity, and inversely proportional to the radius to the fourth power.
vein
vessel that drains the deoxygenated blood. The mean vein diameter in the rat brain vasculature is smaller compared to the mean artery diameter.
vessel
tube-like structures in the circulatory system that are responsible for circulating blood within the body. The vessel classification is extended by a diameter criterion.
viscosity
the property of a fluid that resists the force which tends to cause it to flow.