Cerebral blood flow during sprint exercise

Abstract

The effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral oxygenation remain unknown. Therefore, we recruited 20 voluntaries who performed one HIIT session (4x30s Wingate tests with 4 minutes recovery between them). We measured frontal lobe (FLO) and Vastus lateralis (VL) oxygenation with NIRS. Middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity (MCAv) was measured by Doppler. MCAv decreased between 5 and 10 % during the first sprint. MCAv decreased slightly more during the subsequent sprints. Nevertheless, FLO remained stable during the first sprint and was only reduced slightly during the second and third Wingate (the fourth was similar to the third). MCAv decreased on each sprint with the reduction of End-tidal carbon dioxide pressure (PETCO2), the latter due to hyperventilation. When subjects stopped pedaling MCAv was dropped markedly. The decrease in MCAv did not produce any functional or relevant effect on frontal lobe oxygenation due to the adjustment of cerebral vascular conductance by the auto-regulatory mechanisms and did not seem to negatively affect performance.