Effects of acute aerobic exercise on arterial stiffness and cerebrovascular pulsatility in adults with and without hypertension

Lefferts, Wesley K.; DeBlois, Jacob P.; Receno, Candace N.; Barreira, Tiago V.; Brutsaert, Tom D.; Carhart, Robert; Heffernan, Kevin S.

doi:10.1097/hjh.0000000000001752

Cited by 20 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…This investigation was part of a larger study designed to investigate the vascular and cognitive responses to acute exercise in hypertension. While the vascular responses are published elsewhere (Lefferts et al, 2018b) the current paper will present the cognitive results. We targeted middle-aged adults because (1) cognitive decline can be detected as early as middle-age (Singh-Manoux et al, 2012), making this age range a prime target for preventive research and (2) recent meta-analyses indicate this is an understudied group regarding acute exercise and cognitive function (Ludyga et al, 2016).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Acute Aerobic Exercise on Cognition and Constructs of Decision-Making in Adults With and Without Hypertension

Lefferts

DeBlois

White

et al. 2019

Front. Aging Neurosci.

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Hypertension accelerates brain aging, resulting in cognitive dysfunction with advancing age. Exercise is widely recommended for adults with hypertension to attenuate cognitive dysfunction. Whether acute exercise benefits cognitive function in this at-risk population is unknown. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of acute aerobic exercise on cognitive function in 30 middle-aged hypertensive (HTN) and 30 age, sex, and body mass index (BMI)-matched non-HTN adults (56 ± 6 years, BMI 28.2 ± 2.9 kg/m2; 32 men). Subjects underwent cognitive testing pre/post 30-min cycling (≈55% peak oxygen consumption). Cognition was assessed using standard metrics of accuracy and reaction time (RT) across memory recognition, 2-back, and Flanker tasks. Behavioral data was further analyzed using drift-diffusion modeling to examine underlying components of decision-making (strength of evidence, caution, bias) and RT (non-decision time). Exercise elicited similar changes in cognitive function in both HTN and non-HTN groups (p > 0.05). Accuracy was unaltered for Flanker and 2-back tasks, while hits and false alarms increased for memory recognition post-exercise (p < 0.05). Modeling results indicated changes in memory hits/false alarms were due to significant changes in stimulus bias post-exercise. RT decreased for Flanker and memory recognition tasks and was driven by reductions in post-exercise non-decision time (p < 0.05). Our data indicate acute exercise resulted in similar, beneficial cognitive responses in both middle-age HTN and non-HTN adults, marked by unaltered task accuracy, and accelerated RT post-exercise. Additionally, drift-diffusion modeling revealed that beneficial acceleration of cognitive processing post-exercise (RT) is driven by changes in non-decision components (encoding/motor response) rather than the decision-making process itself.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Acute Aerobic Exercise on Cognition and Constructs of Decision-Making in Adults With and Without Hypertension

Lefferts

DeBlois

White

et al. 2019

Front. Aging Neurosci.

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“…This investigation was part of a larger study designed to investigate the vascular responses to acute exercise in HTN. While the exercise responses are published elsewhere (26), the present study presents separate vascular responses during a cognitive perturbation from data collected before exercise. Participants were excluded if they reported smoking, stroke, dementia, diabetes mellitus, severe obesity (BMI Ն 35 kg/m 2 ), depression, previous cardiovascular events, pulmonary/renal/neurological disease, or recent head trauma (concussion).…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurovascular coupling during cognitive activity in adults with controlled hypertension

Lefferts

DeBlois

Barreira

et al. 2018

Journal of Applied Physiology

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Hypertension, even when controlled, may accelerate arterial stiffening and impair the ability of the cerebrovasculature to increase blood flow to support neural activity (neurovascular coupling [NVC]). Optimal NVC depends on continuous, non-pulsatile flow, which is partially determined by extra- and intra-cranial vessel function. We sought to compare extra- and intra-cranial hemodynamics during cognitive activity (Stroop task) in 30 middle-aged, well-controlled medicated hypertensive and 30 age-, sex-, and body mass index (BMI)-matched non-hypertensive adults (56±6 yrs, BMI 28.2±2.9 kg/m; 32 men). Aortic and carotid (single-point) pulse wave velocity (PWV) were assessed via tonometry and ultrasound respectively. Carotid and middle cerebral artery (MCA) blood velocity pulsatility were measured via ultrasound and Doppler. Prefrontal cortex (PFC) oxygenation (tissue saturation index; TSI) was measured using near-infrared spectroscopy. Accuracy and reaction times were computed to assess cognitive performance. Stroop performance was similar between groups (p>0.01). Aortic and carotid PWV increased, carotid flow pulsatility decreased (p<0.01), and MCA flow pulsatility and PFC TSI were maintained during Stroop (p>0.01). Our findings indicate that middle-age adults with medically-controlled hypertension and adults without hypertension demonstrate similar intra- and extra-cranial cerebrovascular reactivity during cognitive engagement. Despite increases in large artery stiffness, middle-aged adults with controlled-hypertension and without hypertension exhibit reductions in extracranial flow pulsatility during cognitive engagement that may be part of a concerted cerebrovascular response to support downstream cerebral oxygenation and overall NVC.

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“…Indeed, vascular homeostasis depends on the activity of the endothelium, which is a fundamental regulator of the vasomotor responses, modulating the health and resistance of the vessels. Nitric oxide (NO) is a key mediator of endothelial function, and both clinical and preclinical studies have confirmed the ability of exercise to improve NO‐dependent endothelial vasodilation . Physiologically, high NO production occurs in response to increased blood flow to compensate the shear stress by vasodilation .…”

Section: Physical Activity and Endothelial Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nitric oxide (NO) is a key mediator of endothelial function, and both clinical and preclinical studies have confirmed the ability of exercise to improve NO-dependent endothelial vasodilation. [7][8][9][10][11][12] Physiologically, high NO production occurs in response to increased blood flow to compensate the shear stress by vasodilation. [13][14][15] Exercise training results in repeated exposure to shear stress, thus improving the This Invited Commentary refers to JCH-19-0421: "Intensity and Frequency of Physical Activity and High Blood Pressure in Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study" bioavailability of NO.…”

Section: Phys I C Al Ac Tivit Y and Endothelial Fun C Tionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of physical activity in hypertension

Gambardella

Morelli

Wang

et al. 2020

J of Clinical Hypertension

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Effects of acute aerobic exercise on arterial stiffness and cerebrovascular pulsatility in adults with and without hypertension

Abstract: These data suggest adults with treated HTN experience similar increases in aortic stiffness and cerebrovascular hemodynamic pulsatility during early recovery from acute aerobic exercise as their counterparts without HTN.

Cited by 20 publications

References 43 publications

Effects of Acute Aerobic Exercise on Cognition and Constructs of Decision-Making in Adults With and Without Hypertension

Effects of Acute Aerobic Exercise on Cognition and Constructs of Decision-Making in Adults With and Without Hypertension

Neurovascular coupling during cognitive activity in adults with controlled hypertension

Pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of physical activity in hypertension

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