Cerebrovascular development and evolution

Abstract

The comprehensive appreciation of the embryological events is paramount to develop a good understanding of the cerebrovasculature in all its aspects, from the anatomy to the physiology and hence the pathology. Vascularization of the brain and spinal cord has certain fundamental similarities. The evolution of brain circulation attests to progressive recruitment of already existing vascular networks to supply emergent cortical territories, rather than development of de novo arterial solutions. This principle can be applied to many concepts in evolutionary developmental biology. And, since, in many aspects, “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny” to quote Ernst Haeckel, father of the embryological parallelism law, the phylogeny of the brain and spinal cord is a key concept to understand in order to develop a mind framework which becomes then useful for the approach of embryology.