Fig. 1: Overview of glymphatic system on the macroscopic and microscopic scale. | Translational Psychiatry

Fig. 1: Overview of glymphatic system on the macroscopic and microscopic scale.

From: Decreased diffusivity along the perivascular spaces in bipolar disorder: an MRI-based cross-sectional and Mendelian randomization study

Fig. 1: Overview of glymphatic system on the macroscopic and microscopic scale.

A The existence of meningeal lymphatic vessels and their relationship with surrounding vascular tissues indicate the existence of the lymphatic system in the brain. B The assumptive glymphatic function model. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flows smoothly into the brain parenchyma from subarachnoid space, which is then drained out through perivenous spaces. During this process, the metabolic waste and inflammatory factors are also cleansed. C We exploited the DTI-ALPS index based on diffusion-weighted MRI as a proxy of glymphatic function. DTI-ALPS was computed as the ratio between the mean of the x-axis diffusivity on the projection fibres (Dxxproj) and association fibres (Dxxassoc) and the mean of the y-axis diffusivity on the projection fibres (Dyyproj) and the z-axis diffusivity on association fibres (Dzzassoc) in region of interest. DTI-ALPS, the diffusion along perivascular space. Images were created in BioRender. Teng, Z. (2025) https://BioRender.com/ye1q7xh.

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