Abstract
A combined rheological and dark-ground microscopical study of mouse brain tissue is reported. In its near physiological state, brain tissue is an aggregate of hydrophilic colloidal particles with marked ion- and water-binding capacity. The colloidal state of the tissue in vivo must be intermediate between that of an elastic gel and of a paste-like aggregate of particles. On compression, the tissue exhibits plastic flow under the Mises-Hencky condition. In distilled water the hydration pattern of the tissue is that of a substance with an isoelectric zone between pH 4 and pH 5. The acid-hydrated tissue has elastic gel-like properties, whereas in alkali, solvation occurs, yielding a viscous fluid.
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