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> The  brain has no stored energy and must use increased fresh blood flow to nourish a newly functional area. This is the reason we can study the brain with fMRI, and this study shows the controls:
> 
> https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/brain-and-arteries-working-together?utm_source=Cosmos+-+Master+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=a313e374f0-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3f5c04479a-a313e374f0-180344213
> 
> "The brain is a demanding beast. It consumes about a fifth of the body’s energy but cannot store any, so it needs constant and carefully timed nourishment from the cardiovascular system.
> 
> "To keep it happy, “neurovascular coupling” rapidly increases blood flow to areas of heightened neural activity – a process that is impaired in conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.
> 
> "Despite its importance, it has been unclear how the brain and blood vessels communicate to enable neurovascular coupling.
>  
> "Now, in a study published in the journal Nature, neuroscientists from Harvard Medical School, US, report the discovery of a control mechanism in the brains of mice that ensures adequate blood flow to areas of heightened neural activity in a rapid and precise manner.
> Experiments reveal that arteries in the brain actively regulate neurovascular coupling in response to neural activity, and that the protein Mfsd2a, previously implicated as a key regulator of the protective blood-brain barrier, is critical for this process. 
> 
> "'We now have a firm handle on the mechanisms involved in neurovascular coupling, including its molecular, cellular and subcellular components, which we've never had before," says senior author Chenghua Gu.
> 
> "'This puts us in a position to dissect this process and determine, for example, whether the neurovascular coupling impairments that we see in diseases like Alzheimer's are the result of a pathology or the cause.'”
> 
> Comment: I would assume this process is old and is in early brains in evolution. It requires a specific protein to activate the process.  Chance evolution would never find one specific protein, but design can.