Effects of dominant and non-dominant passive arm manoeuvres on the neurovascular coupling response.

PURPOSE

Models designed to study neurovascular coupling (NVC) describe a possible cerebral hemisphere dominance dependent on task completed and preference in handedness. We investigated whether passive arm manoeuvre performed with dominant (Dom-Arm) or non-dominant arm (ND-Arm) stimulated haemodynamic differences in either contralateral (Cont-H) or ipsilateral (Ipsil-H) cerebral hemisphere.

METHODS

Healthy individuals lying in supine position, had measurements of beat-to-beat blood pressure (BP, mmHg), electrocardiogram (HR, bpm), end-tidal CO (etCO, mmHg), and bilateral insonation of the middle cerebral arteries (MCA, cm s). Arm movement was performed for 60 s with passive flexion and extension of the elbow (1 Hz), before manoeuvre was repeated on other arm. Data were normalised and effect of treatment was analysed for differences between manoeuvres and within each time period.

RESULTS

Seventeen (eight males) healthy volunteers, aged 56 ± 7 years, were studied. Dom-Arm and ND-Arm manoeuvres stimulated a comparable temporal response in peripheral and cerebral haemodynamic parameters between Cont-H and Ipsil-H.

CONCLUSIONS

Both manoeuvres can be used to evoke similar bilateral MCA responses in assessing NVC. This finding should lead to more efficient protocols when using passive arm movement for NVC studies in healthy subjects.