Oscillatory flow and steady streaming of cerebrospinal fluid in cranial subarachnoid space

Abstract

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a Newtonian fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord, and oscillates in response to the physiological periodic changes in brain volume, of which the cardiac cycle is a major driver. Understanding this motion is essential for clarifying its contribution to solute transport, waste clearance and drug delivery. In this work, we study oscillatory and steady streaming flow in the cranial subarachnoid space using a lubrication-based theoretical framework. The model represents the cranial CSF compartment as a thin fluid layer bounded internally by the brain surface and externally by the dura, driven by time-dependent brain surface displacements. We first derive simplified governing equations for flow over an arbitrary smooth sphere-like brain surface and obtain analytical solutions for an idealised spherical geometry with uniform displacements. We then incorporate realistic displacement fields reconstructed from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements in healthy subjects and solve the reduced equations numerically. The results show that oscillatory forcing produces a steady streaming component that may enhance solute transport compared with diffusion alone. This work provides a mechanistic description of the flow generated by physiological brain motion and highlights the potential presence of steady streaming in cranial subarachnoid fluid dynamics.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2026 · DOI ↗