Impaired drainage through capillary-venous networks contributes to age-related white matter loss.

The gradual loss of cerebral white matter contributes to cognitive decline during aging. However, microvascular networks that support the metabolic demands of white matter remain poorly defined. We used deep multi-photon imaging to characterize microvascular networks that perfuse cortical layer 6 and corpus callosum, a highly studied region of white matter in the mouse brain.