Vasomotion is the spontaneous oscillation in tone of blood vessel walls, independent of heart beat, innervation or respiration.
[1] While vasomotion was first observed by Thomas Wharton Jones in 1852, the complete mechanisms responsible for its generation and its physiological importance remain to be elucidated.
[5] Due to regional variations in gap junction distribution and coupling (homocellular vs. heterocellular) several hypotheses have been suggested to account for vasomotion occurrence.
When patch clamp recordings are conducted, depolarization occurs in the endothelial layer at the same time as the underlying vascular smooth muscle.
Mathematical modeling has pointed to the existence of 2-4 independent non-linear oscillating systems interacting to produce vasomotion.