BLOOD BRAIN PERMEABILITY
The human brain is regarded as the most sophisticated, complex system in the known universe. It stands to reason that such a precious system, your internal mainframe computer, should be well protected. To this end the brain is encased in the 7mm thick skull, surrounded by protective cerebrospinal fluid and a protective membrane, the meninges, to protect it from external physical injury. However, internal damage may occur when damaging substances, such as toxins or disease-causing pathogens, gets transported in the blood stream to the brain. To protect the brain from internal damage, it has its own border control, consisting of a very sophisticated and tightly regulated barrier system that regulates which substances are allowed to enter the brain. This primary