One of these things is not like the other: the heterogeneity of the cerebral circulation

Abstract

The human cerebral vasculature is highly sensitive to changes in arterial blood gases (i.e. arterial carbon dioxide and oxygen tensions), such that hypercapnia/hypoxia and hypocapnia/hyperoxia cause global increases and decreases in cerebral blood flow. It is generally accepted that all cerebral arter‐ioles – traditionally considered to be the regulators of brain blood flow – are equally sensitive to changes in arterial blood gases. However, this classic dogma may not be the case.