The brain also beats just like the heart (video)

A discovery that may have no little relevance in the study of neurological diseases: the brain moves with every heartbeat, as if it "breathed".

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Heart and brain, same beat. It seems a romantic question, yet it is science that discovers and confirms the existence of a minimum movement of the human brain that "goes in time" with the heartbeat. An intuition that may have no small relevance in the study of neurological diseases.

To discover and to to take back for the first time the brain beating like the heart it was researchers from the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey who, together with those of the University of Auckland and Stanford University, captured the computer-amplified movement clearly visible in a clip.

The study is the result of a precise analysis: with a new type of magnetic resonance that shows clearer images of the movement of the brain, the scholars sought to identify new early diagnoses of certain diseases. The new method (Amplified MRI - aMRI) was developed by Dr Samantha Holdsworth of the University of Auckland and her team and would aim to magnify the very small movements of the brain that occur due to the force of the blood going right to the brain whenever the heart beats.

While with a normal MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) it is possible to take several frames of the brain during a heartbeat but with it it is difficult to see the movement of the brain because the resolution of the image is too low, with the aMRI the scholars have been able to capture motion smaller than the resolution of the image, using an image processing method.

“AMRI can allow us to detect pathological movement of the brain and vessels due to diseases or disorders that obstruct the brain or block the flow of brain fluid,” Holdsworth says. And, in essence, it is possible to capture "the whole head" thanks to the force of the blood that pumps into the brain every time the heart beats.

This is why the researchers found that the brain moves with every heartbeat, as if it were "breathing". These are tiny movements, but they represent a big move in neurological studies.

The brain also beats just like the heart (video)

“It's a proof of concept - says Mehmet Kurt, Stevens biomechanical engineer - We wanted to see if we can amplify the small movements of the brain with each heartbeat and capture that movement. A better visualization and understanding of the biomechanical properties of the brain could lead to an early diagnosis and monitoring of brain disorders and, even, to the design of better helmets to protect our head ”.

In the video the real movement and the one amplified by the computer.