Tsukasa Ikemura

Exhaustive exercise attenuates the neurovascular coupling by blunting the pressor response to visual stimulation.

Neurovascular coupling (NVC) is assessed as an increase response to visual stimulation, and is monitored by blood flow of the posterior cerebral artery (PCA). To investigate whether exhaustive exercise modifies NVC, and more specifically, the relative contributions of vasodilatation in the downstream of PCA and the pressor response on NVC, we measured blood flow velocity in the PCA (PCAv) in 13 males using transcranial Doppler ultrasound flowmetry during a leg-cycle exercise at 75% of maximal heart rate until exhaustion. NVC was estimated as the relative change in PCAv from the mean value obtained during 20-s with the eyes closed to the peak value obtained during 40-s of visual stimulation involving looking at a reversed checkerboard. Conductance index (CI) was calculated by dividing PCAv by mean arterial pressure (MAP) to evaluate the vasodilatation. At exhaustion, PCAv was significantly decreased relative to baseline measurements, and the PCAv response to visual stimulation significantly decreased. Compared to baseline, exhaustive exercise significantly suppressed the increase in MAP to visual stimulation, while the CI response did not significantly change by the exercise. These results suggest that exhaustive exercise attenuates the magnitude of NVC by blunting the pressor response to visual stimulation.

Effect of preceding exercise on cerebral and splanchnic vascular responses to mental task

BackgroundTo investigate the effect of preceding acute exercise on the peripheral vascular response to a mental task, we measured splanchnic and cerebral blood flow responses to performing a mental task after exercise and resting.MethodsIn the exercise trial, 11 males exercised for 30 min on a cycle ergometer with a workload set at 70% of the age-predicted maximal heart rate for each individual. After a 15-min recovery period, the subjects rested for 5 min for pre-task baseline measurement and then performed mental arithmetic for 5 min followed by 5 min of post-task measurement. In the resting trial, they rested for 45 min and pre-task baseline data was obtained for 5 min. Then mental arithmetic was performed for 5 min followed by post-task measurement. We measured the mean blood velocity in the middle cerebral artery and superior mesenteric artery and the mean arterial pressure.ResultsMean arterial pressure and mean blood velocity in the middle cerebral artery were significantly higher than the baseline during mental arithmetic in both exercise and resting trials. Mean blood velocity in the middle cerebral artery during mental arithmetic was greater in the control trial than the exercise trial. Mean blood velocity in the superior mesenteric artery showed no significant change during mental arithmetic from baseline in both trials.ConclusionThese results suggest that acute exercise can moderate the increase in cerebral blood flow induced by a mental task.