Role of Brain Interstitial Transport in Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the principal cause of dementia in the US, affecting 5 million individuals, and is one of the fastest growing diseases in other developed countries, afflicting 38 million worldwide. The recent findings of the presence of lymphatic vessels in the subarachnoid space of the brain strongly support exchange between the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and the interstitial fluid that envelopes neurons and glia in the brain. This opens new opportunities to study the diffusive and convective transport of harmful products from the brain. The analysis of transport phenomena, as so profoundly developed and taught by Professor Churchill, applies broadly, even in these non-traditional problems.