How to Use blood-brain barrier in a Sentence

blood-brain barrier

noun
Definition of blood-brain barriernext
  • At the base of the brain sits a dense constellation of cells known as the blood-brain barrier.
    — Donna Jackson Nakazawa, Wired, 21 Jan. 2020
  • This structure is called the blood-brain barrier, or BBB for short, and the drug should not have been able to pass through it.
    — Daniela Kaufer, Scientific American, 23 Apr. 2021
  • Most drugs can’t pass through the blood-brain barrier, a living border wall around the brain.
    — Megan Molteni, Wired, 15 Apr. 2020
  • The caffeine in coffee tightens up the blood-brain barrier and can decrease how much of the drug makes it to your brain.
    — Courtney Southwick, Health, 23 July 2024
  • In fact, some parts of the brain don’t have a traditional blood-brain barrier at all.
    — Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta Magazine, 20 June 2023
  • The team also found that clusterin readily attached to the cells that form the blood-brain barrier.
    — Emily Willingham, Scientific American, 8 Dec. 2021
  • With its added methyl-group molecule, Pervitin races across the blood-brain barrier a bit faster than Benzedrine.
    — Fox News, 25 June 2019
  • The procedure to open the blood-brain barrier only takes four minutes and is performed while the patient is awake.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 3 May 2023
  • Better yet, two of them were already known to cross the blood-brain barrier, so could potentially reach the cells that Parkinson's kills.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 2 Sep. 2017
  • In children, particularly under the age of 10 or babies in the womb, the metal can pass through the blood-brain barrier and kill off brain cells.
    — Julia Belluz, Vox, 30 Mar. 2018
  • In children, particularly those under the age of 10 or babies in the womb, the metal can pass through the blood-brain barrier and kill off brain cells.
    — Julia Belluz, Vox, 27 Sep. 2018
  • In crossing the blood-brain barrier, caffeine can act on the central nervous system.
    — Science & Food, Discover Magazine, 29 Sep. 2015
  • What leukotriene modifiers such as Singulair are not supposed to do is cross the blood-brain barrier.
    — Joanna Thompson, Scientific American, 19 Jan. 2024
  • This is also the first study that shows how quickly the blood-brain barrier closes after being opened by the ultrasound.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 3 May 2023
  • These cytokines are seemingly able to cross the semipermeable network of capillaries that connect the brain to the rest of the body (known as the blood-brain barrier).
    — Claire Maldarelli, Popular Science, 22 Feb. 2018
  • Damage to the blood-brain barrier caused by inflammation can result in the brain's inability to send messages from the brain to other parts of the body.
    — Dr. Odelia Lewis and Sony Salzman, ABC News, 30 July 2021
  • There are even species whose neurotoxic compounds get through our own blood-brain barrier, a feat that no wasp venom can yet achieve.
    — Christie Wilcox, Scientific American, 1 May 2017
  • Due to the blood-brain barrier, biomarkers couldn’t be found in sufficient quantities.
    — Tribune News Service, oregonlive, 25 Nov. 2021
  • Too much inflammation can also break down the protective wall known as the blood-brain barrier and lead to brain swelling, seizures or spread of infection.
    — Dr. Minali Nigam and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, 29 July 2020
  • Researchers have found signs that the virus can establish a foothold of sorts on the periphery of the brain, where the protective blood-brain barrier opens up to allow key molecules to slip through.
    — Amina Khan Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2021
  • The glowing gold stars are astrocytes: these cells control the permeability of the blood-brain barrier and are named for their starlike shape.
    — Liz Tormes, Scientific American, 26 Aug. 2022
  • These metals also have the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, a feature of the human nervous system that defends the brain from pathogens and toxins in the blood, according to a 2015 study.
    — Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY, 26 Jan. 2022
  • For another, the brain is walled off from the rest of the body by a series of microscopic defenses collectively known as the blood-brain barrier.
    — Carl Zimmer, Discover Magazine, 20 Dec. 2013
  • The scientists then injected some animals with a dye that cannot cross a healthy blood-brain barrier and scanned the living animals’ brains.
    — Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2018
  • Then, the ultrasound device agitates the bubbles with sound waves, creating gaps in the blood-brain barrier.
    — Lizzy Lawrence, STAT, 12 May 2023
  • Those places include the area postrema in the brainstem, which lies outside the blood-brain barrier because its job is to detect toxins and trigger vomiting in response.
    — Los Angeles Times, 5 May 2021
  • The coronavirus may be able to cross the blood-brain barrier, causing autonomic changes such as shortness of breath, sweating and rapid heart rate, researchers said.
    — Julie Washington, cleveland, 30 Mar. 2021
  • Sleep apnea can break down the blood-brain barrier that keeps bacteria from reaching the brain and doing permanent damage.
    — Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 5 July 2022
  • In the brain, P-glycoprotein is present at high levels at the junction points, or the blood-brain barrier, between neurons and the dense network of blood vessels surrounding them.
    — Dallas News, 29 June 2021
  • Another is crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a protective barrier between the brain’s blood vessels and the cells and other components that make up the brain tissue.
    — New Atlas, 23 July 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'blood-brain barrier.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: