Comparing cerebral blood flow and cerebrospinal fluid flow during breath-holding and motor tasks in the human brain.

Motivation: Recent studies highlight the significant impact of arterial pulsation on CSF movements in animal studies, but direct comparison in awake humans is still limited. Goal(s): This study aims to concurrently measure CSF and CBF, excluding the influence of breathing, to analyze their correlation. Additionally, it investigates changes in CSF movement during the motor task. Approach: Simultaneously measuring CBF and CSF by applying pCASL, and comparing how they change during breath-holding and motor tasks. Results: During breath-holding, we observed a positive correlation between CBF and CSF. Furthermore, we confirmed reduced CSF inflow during the motor task compared to the resting state. Impact: The relationship between CSF movement and CBF was analyzed during breath-holding and motor tasks in humans for the first time. This study offers a new way to study CBF and CSF movement, providing a better understanding of CBF-CSF physiology.