Cerebral blood flow and neurovascular coupling during static exercise

The effect of static exercise on neurovascular coupling (NVC) was investigated by measuring the blood flow velocity in the posterior cerebral artery (PCAv) during 2-min static handgrip exercises (HG) at 30 % of the maximum voluntary contraction in 17 healthy males. NVC was estimated as the relative change in PCAv from eye closing to a peak response to looking at a reversed checkerboard. The conductance index (CI) was calculated by dividing PCAv by the mean arterial pressure (MAP). HG significantly increased PCAv from the resting baseline, with an increase in MAP and a reduction in CI, whereas NVC did not differ significantly between the resting and HG. Compared to the resting baseline, HG significantly increased the pressor response to visual stimulation by 5.6 ± 1.1 (mean ± SE) mmHg, while the CI response was significantly inhibited by -7.0 ± 1.5 %. These results indicate that NVC was maintained during HG via contributions from both the pressor response and vasodilatation.