Is Neurovascular Coupling of Relevance in Glaucoma?

Rapid development of functional neuroimaging techniques have brought about a growing interest for neurovascular coupling in neuroresearch, which, in turn, has prompted similar research in ophthalmology. There are now hints that neurovascular coupling is disturbed in glaucoma. The contact of the nerve terminals to the cortical blood vessels is mostly realized through astrocytes. A major defining property of glaucoma, cupping of the optic disk, implies tissue remodeling of the optic nerve head and involves an astrocytic responses. A malfunction of the astrocytes in glaucoma may lead not only to the hallmark of glaucoma—cupping and death of retinal ganglion cells—but also to an accompanying or even preceding disturbance in ocular neurovascular coupling. This article is a short overview of research published in this field so far.