Neurosalience #S4E11 with Jack Wells - Noninvasively imaging CSF flow and the glymphatic system

In this episode, it's our pleasure to host Jack Wells who is a Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow at the University College London Center for Advanced Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Wells received his Ph.D. in MRI in the Department of Medical Physics and Bioengineering at  at University College London in 2010, and since he began his scientific career, he's been working at the interface of MRI methodology and neurophysiology - focusing on understanding the Cerebral Spinal Fluid dynamics and how they may relate to the Glymphatic system. He and his colleagues have been among the leaders in using MRI to image and characterize the glymphatic system as well as the  brain - cerebrospinal fluid barrier. The glymphatic system is hypothesized to be the paravascular mechanism by which CSF is washed through brain tissue - typically during sleep - clearing out metabolic waste. It is an incompletely understood yet potentially profoundly important system where its dysfunction  may be at the root of  disorders that include Alzheimer's disease.

In this wonderful conversation we hear all about Jack's and others' work imaging and understanding the hydrodynamics and spatial organization of neurofluids in the brain.

We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did!