Breaking the Brain Barrier.

BLOOD-brain barrier; BRAIN blood-vessels; NEUROVASCULAR diseases; BRAIN immunology; NEUROGLIA; SCIENTISTS' attitudes; SCIENTIFIC discoveries; EHRLICH, Paul R., 1932-

In this article the author discusses the perception of the blood-brain barrier as a living, mutable organ may revolutionize the treatment of diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's. Topics include experiments by scientists Paul Ehrlich that led to the eventual discovery of a blood-brain barrier, which is hidden inside the brain's blood vessels, biologists' view of the blood-brain barrier as something to be revered or avoided, and a change in attitudes toward the blood-brain barrier, which scientists call the neurovascular unit. Also discussed is brain cell research by Maiken Nedergaard of the University of Rochester, New York, a diagram illustrating how the blood-brain barrier protects the brain, and the role that the neurovascular unit plays in disease.