Neurological diseases account for a significant portion of the global disease burden. While research efforts have identified potential drugs or drug targets for neurological diseases, most therapeutic platforms are still ineffective at reaching the target location selectively and with high yield. Restricted transport, including passage across the blood–brain barrier, through the brain parenchyma, and into specific cells, is a major cause of ineffective therapeutic delivery. However, nanotechnology is a promising, tailorable platform for overcoming these transport barriers and improving therapeutic delivery to the brain. We provide a transport-oriented analysis of nanotechnology’s ability to navigate these transport barriers in the brain. We also provide an opinion on the need for technology development for increasing our capacity to characterize and quantify nanoparticle passage through each transport barrier. Finally, we highlight the importance of incorporating the effect of disease, metabolic state, and regional dependencies to better understand transport of nanotherapeutics in the brain.

神经系统疾病占全球疾病负担的很大一部分。虽然研究工作已经确定了神经系统疾病的潜在药物或药物靶点，但大多数治疗平台仍然无法选择性地以高产率到达目标位置。运输受限，包括穿过血脑屏障、通过脑实质并进入特定细胞，是治疗递送无效的主要原因。然而，纳米技术是一个有前途的、可定制的平台，可以克服这些运输障碍并改善对大脑的治疗。我们对纳米技术在大脑中导航这些运输障碍的能力进行了面向运输的分析。我们还就技术开发的需求提供了意见，以提高我们表征和量化纳米颗粒通过每个传输屏障的能力。最后，我们强调了结合疾病、代谢状态和区域依赖性的影响以更好地了解纳米治疗药物在大脑中的运输的重要性。