Neuronal activity relaxes pericytes, leading to capillary dilation and increased blood flow, before arterioles dilate, suggesting that pericytes initiate blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) functional imaging signals; pericytes constrict and die in rigor in ischaemia, which will cause a long-lasting blood flow decrease after stroke, and damage the blood–brain barrier.
- Catherine N. Hall
- Clare Reynell
- David Attwell
