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

Abstract

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.

A single session of exercise reduces blood pressure reactivity to stress: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…In addition, of the 29 studies 25 – 53 , only 4 (14%) included hypertensive patients 31 , 39 , 44 , 53 , 22 (76%) had a mean age of less than 30 years 25 – 30 , 32 – 34 , 37 , 40 – 43 , 46 , 50 – 52 , 54 – 56 , 4 (14%) were from 30 to 40 years old 35 , 38 , 47 , 48 , and only 4 (14%) were over 40 years old 31 , 39 , 44 , 53 . As for stress tests, we have as the most frequent the stroop color and word test (13 studies) 29 , 31 – 33 , 36 – 38 , 43 , 44 , 46 – 49 , followed by cold pressor 32 , 34 , 35 , 37 , 39 , 41 , 43 , 50 – 53 (11 studies), arithmetic test 25 , 27 , 29 , 30 , 39 , 40 , 42 , 45 , 48 (9 studies), public speaking (3 studies) 29 , 32 , 38 , handgrip (2 studies) 36 , 48 , and Trier Social Stress Test 28 and Study task 26 (1 study each). As for the time interval between the exercise session and the stressor task, only 2 studies (7%) performed more tha...…”

“…As for stress tests, we have as the most frequent the stroop color and word test (13 studies) 29 , 31 – 33 , 36 – 38 , 43 , 44 , 46 – 49 , followed by cold pressor 32 , 34 , 35 , 37 , 39 , 41 , 43 , 50 – 53 (11 studies), arithmetic test 25 , 27 , 29 , 30 , 39 , 40 , 42 , 45 , 48 (9 studies), public speaking (3 studies) 29 , 32 , 38 , handgrip (2 studies) 36 , 48 , and Trier Social Stress Test 28 and Study task 26 (1 study each). As for the time interval between the exercise session and the stressor task, only 2 studies (7%) performed more than 60 min later 42 , 44 , 7 studies (24%) performed between 31 and 60 min later 29 , 32 , 35 , 40 , 49 , 53 , 54 and 23 studies (79%) performed in up to 30 min later 25 – 27 , 30 , 31 , 33 , 34 , 37 – 41 , 43 , 45 – 48 , 50 – 52 , 57 .…”

“…Regarding experimental designs, 5 (17%) studies used a randomized clinical trial approach 25 , 27 , 29 , 32 , 46 , and 24 (83%) adopted a crossover design 26 , 28 , 30 , 31 , 33 – 45 , 47 – 53 . As the main results, 13 (45%) studies demonstrated improvements in systolic blood pressure (SBP) 25 , 31 , 32 , 35 , 37 , 38 , 40 , 44 , 47 , 49 , 51 – 53 , 14 (48%) in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 25 , 31 , 32 , 35 , 37 – 41 , 44 , 46 , 47 , 51 , 52 , and 8 (out of 12; 67%) in mean blood pressure (MBP) 29 , 31 , 37 , 38 , 46 , 47 , 51 , 52 .…”

“…As the main results, 13 (45%) studies demonstrated improvements in systolic blood pressure (SBP) 25 , 31 , 32 , 35 , 37 , 38 , 40 , 44 , 47 , 49 , 51 – 53 , 14 (48%) in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 25 , 31 , 32 , 35 , 37 – 41 , 44 , 46 , 47 , 51 , 52 , and 8 (out of 12; 67%) in mean blood pressure (MBP) 29 , 31 , 37 , 38 , 46 , 47 , 51 , 52 . The others (12; 41%) had null results since no study has shown harmful BP reactivity effects of exercise 26 – 28 , 30 , 33 , 34 , 36 , 42 , 43 , 45 , 48 , 50 . Besides that, four studies did not present data dispersion measures to be included in the meta-analysis 25 – 28 .…”

The stress-buffering effect of acute exercise: Evidence for HPA axis negative feedback

“…Since previous studies reported sustained changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) up to 40 min following a single bout of moderate aerobic exercise (Smith et al, 2010;Someya et al, 2012;MacIntosh et al, 2014), which affects the BOLD (T2*) contrast in fMRI examinations, the acquisition of functional MIST-data started about 90 min after the exercise cessation. Thus, an influence of the mentioned CBF alterations on our stress-related BOLD response effects is unlikely.…”