The Neurovascular Unit and the Role of Astrocytes in the Regulation of Vascular Tone (Colloquium Series on Neuroglia in Biology and Medicine: From Physiology to Disease)

Reviews the cellular mechanisms contributing to astrocyte-mediated vasodilation and vasoconstriction of parenchymal arterioles. Primarily, the authors discuss how activity-dependent changes in astrocytic Ca2+ contribute to the release of vasoactive signals involved in neurovascular coupling.