Visualizing Cerebral Microvascular Shunting in Cerebral Small Vessel Disease with MRI
Description: Cerebral small vessel disease is a major cause of stroke, cognitive decline, and dementia in older adults, yet its underlying causes remain poorly understood. A key challenge is that brain injury can develop even when overall blood flow appears normal. We propose that this occurs because blood is diverted through abnormal pathways in the smallest brain vessels, reducing oxygen delivery to vulnerable brain tissue. This project will develop and validate a new, safe MRI method that can detect and map abnormal blood flow patterns without the use of contrast agents. We will first study healthy individuals across the lifespan to establish normal patterns of blood flow and to measure how brain blood vessels respond to a controlled stress test that challenges vascular reactivity. These stress tests will allow us to determine whether limited ability of blood vessels to respond to increased demand is linked to abnormal blood flow patterns. We will then apply this method in older adults to determine whether impaired vascular reactivity and abnormal blood flow are associated with small vessel disease and cognitive decline. This work will provide a new tool to assess brain vascular health under both resting and stressed conditions, improve understanding of disease mechanisms, and support earlier detection and prevention of stroke and age related cognitive impairment.
Funder: American Heart Association
Amount: $100,000
Funding type: research
Funder scheme: Rapid Impact Research Award
Start date: 2026-04-01
End date: 2028-03-31
Investigators: Adam Bush, Adam Bush
Institution: The University of Texas at Austin
Funded outputs count: 0
Funder award ID: 26RIRA1646213
OpenAlex ID: G7342965765