Main description:

The author of this book began his research into the The results of investigations of the cerebral normal and pathological physiology of the circula- circulation conducted in the author's laboratory and tion in the 1940s. This research followed two main described in this book could never have been ob- lines: to begin with it was devoted to general prob- tained without the tremendous efforts of all its staff, lems of the microcirculation, generalized in the as well as those of speCialists from the Institute of monograph "The Capillary Circulation" (Georgian PhYSiology, Georgian Academy of Sciences and other Academy of Sciences, Tbilisi, 1958), while later it scientific institutions in Tbilisi who have collabo- was concerned with the regulation and disturbances rated with me. Among these I should like to men- of the cerebral circulation. Ten years of experi- tion especially R. V. Antia, D. G. Baramidze, N. P. mental research in this field on animals yielded Mitagvaria, L. S. Nikolaishvili and L. G. Ormo- much new information of considerable interest both tsadze (Department of Pathophysiology and Mor- to investigators working in the field of the regional phology of this Institute), G.
V. Amashukeli (Georg- circulation and microcirculation, and also to physi- ian Postgraduate Medical Institute), V. A. Akhobadze cians meeting with cerebrovascular distrubances (M. D. Tsinamzgvrishvili Institute of Experimental in their daily practice.

Contents:

1 Functional Behavior of the Vascular Mechanisms of the Brain under Various Conditions.- I Investigating the Behavior of Different Parts of the Cerebrovascular System.- II Vascular Mechanisms and Changes in Systemic Arterial Pressure.- Role of the Major Arteries in Maintaining a Constant Inflow of Blood into the Circle of Willis.- Functional Behavior of the Pial, Precortical, and Cortical Arteries during Changes of the Systemic Arterial Pressure.- Functional Insufficiency of Vascular Mechanisms during Changes in Systemic Arterial Pressure.- III Intracranial Circulatory Disorders.- Occlusion of Jugular Veins (Mild and Transient Stagnation of Venous Blood).- Severe Stagnation of Blood in the Cerebral Vessels Resulting from Occlusion of the Cranial (Superior) Vena Cava.- Traumatic Cerebral Edema.- Systemic Asphyxia.- Postischemic States.- Increased Activity of the Cerebral Cortex.- Ischemia of the Cerebral Cortex Resulting from Occlusion of the Pial Arteries.- Collateral Blood Supply.- Terminal State Preceding Death.- IV Causes of Primary Disturbance of the Cerebral Circulation.- Spasm of the Cerebral Arteries.- Significant Increase of Resistance in the Very Small Cerebral Vessels as a Cause of Cerebrovascular Disturbances.- Double Significance of Some Compensatory Responses in Cerebrovascular Disorders.- V Organization of the Vascular Mechanisms.- 2 Physiological Mechanisms of Functional Behavior of the Cerebral Arteries.- VI The Major Arteries.- Direct Effects of Physiologically Active Substances on the Internal Carotid Arteries.- Sympathetic and Other Nervous Effects on the Major Arteries.- Role of Reflexes from the Carotid Sinus Receptors in Autoregulatory Responses of Major Arteries.- Reflex Vasoconstriction Arising from Intracranial Receptors.- VII The Pial Arteries.- Humoral Feedback from Brain Tissue to the Pial Arteries.- Nervous Feedback Mechanism from Brain Tissue to the Pial Arteries.- Concluding Remarks.