Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

ACC 2024 Congress

Catch up on all the top stories and latest evidence in cardiology research with our ACC 2024 Congress hub page.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
European Journal of Applied Physiology
Published in: European Journal of Applied Physiology 5/2019

01-05-2019 | Original Article

The effects of aging on the distribution of cerebral blood flow with postural changes and mild hyperthermia

Authors: Akemi Ota, Ryosuke Takeda, Daiki Imai, Nooshin Naghavi, Eriko Kawai, Kosuke Saho, Emiko Morita, Yuta Suzuki, Hisayo Yokoyama, Toshiaki Miyagawa, Kazunobu Okazaki

Published in: European Journal of Applied Physiology | Issue 5/2019

Login to get access

Abstract

Purpose

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) would be impaired with dual stresses of heat and orthostatic changes, even if those stresses are mild, in the elderly with declined cardio- and cerebrovascular functions with aging. To test the hypothesis, we compared the response of blood flow in the internal carotid artery (ICA) and vertebral artery (VA) to dual stresses of heat and orthostatic changes between the elderly and young individuals.

Methods

Nine elderly and eight young healthy men (71.3 ± 3.0 and 23.3 ± 3.1 years, mean ± SD, respectively) underwent measurements of blood flow in the ICA, VA and external carotid artery (ECA) via ultrasonography. The measurements were obtained in sitting and supine positions under normothermic (NT) and mildly hyperthermic (HT) conditions (ambient temperature 28 °C). Esophageal temperatures increased from NT (36.4 ± 0.2 °C, mean ± SE) to HT (37.4 ± 0.2 °C) with lower legs immersion in 42 °C water.

Results

With heat stress, ECA blood flow increased in both postures in both age groups (effect of heat, p < 0.001), whereas ICA blood flow remained unchanged. With postural changes from supine to sitting, ECA blood flow remained unchanged whereas ICA blood flow decreased (effect of posture, p = 0.027) by 18% in NT in the young and by 20% in HT in the elderly. VA blood flow remained unchanged under both heat stress and postural changes.

Conclusions

The CBF is impaired under dual stresses of heat and orthostatic changes in healthy aged individuals, even if the levels of the stresses are mild.
Literature
Ainslie PN, Cotter JD, George KP, Lucas S, Murrell C, Shave R, Thomas KN, Williams MJ, Atkinson G (2008) Elevation in cerebral blood flow velocity with aerobic fitness throughout healthy human ageing. J Physiol 586:4005–4010CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Alperin N, Lee SH, Sivaramakrishnan A, Hushek SG (2005) Quantifying the effect of posture on intracranial physiology in humans by MRI flow studies. J Magn Reson Imaging 22:591–596CrossRefPubMed
Amin-Hanjani S, Du X, Pandey DK, Thulborn KR, Charbel FT (2015) Effect of age and vascular anatomy on blood flow in major cerebral vessels. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 35:312–318CrossRefPubMed
Bain AR, Smith KJ, Lewis NC, Foster GE, Wildfong KW, Willie CK, Hartley GL, Cheung SS, Ainslie PN (2013) Regional changes in brain blood flow during severe passive hyperthermia: effects of PaCO2 and extracranial blood flow. J Appl Physiol 115:653–659CrossRefPubMed
Bain AR, Nybo L, Ainslie PN (2015) Cerebral vascular control and metabolism in heat stress. Compr Physiol 5:1345–1380CrossRefPubMed
Benedictus MR, Leeuwis AE, Binnewijzend MA, Kuijer JP, Scheltens P, Barkhof F, van der Flier WM, Prins ND (2017) Lower cerebral blood flow is associated with faster cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease. Eur Radiol 27:1169–1175CrossRef
Brothers RM, Wingo JE, Hubing KA, Crandall CG (2009) The effects of reduced end-tidal carbon dioxide tension on cerebral blood flow during heat stress. J Physiol 587:3921–3927CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Crandall CG, Levine BD, Etzel RA (1999) Effect of increasing central venous pressure during passive heating on skin blood flow. J Appl Physiol 86:605–610CrossRefPubMed
Fu Q, Iwase S, Niimi Y, Kamiya A, Michikami D, Mano T, Suzumura A (2002) Age-related influences of leg vein filling and emptying on blood volume redistribution and sympathetic reflex during lower body negative pressure in humans. Jpn J Physiol 52:77–84CrossRefPubMed
Fujii N, Tsuji B, Honda Y, Kondo N, Nishiyasu T (2015) Effect of short-term exercise-heat acclimation on ventilatory and cerebral blood flow responses to passive heating at rest in humans. J Appl Physiol 119:435–444CrossRefPubMed
Inoue Y, Nakao M, Araki T, Murakami H (1991) Regional differences in the sweating responses of older and younger men. J Appl Physiol 71:2453–2459CrossRefPubMed
Kenney WL, Anderson RK (1988) Responses of older and younger women to exercise in dry and humid heat without fluid replacement. Med Sci Sports Exerc 20:155–160CrossRefPubMed
Lakatta EG (1993a) Deficient neuroendocrine regulation of the cardiovascular system with advancing age in healthy humans. Circulation 87:631–636CrossRefPubMed
Lee JF, Christmas KM, Harrison ML, Hurr C, Kim K, Brothers RM (2014) Variability in orthostatic tolerance during heat stress: cerebrovascular reactivity to arterial carbon dioxide. Aviat Space Environ Med 85:624–630CrossRefPubMed
Lind AR, Leithead CS, McNicol GW (1968) Cardiovascular changes during syncope induced by tilting men in the heat. J Appl Physiol 25:268–276CrossRefPubMed
Low DA, Wingo JE, Keller DM, Davis SL, Zhang R, Crandall CG (2008) Cerebrovascular responsiveness to steady-state changes in end-tidal CO2 during passive heat stress. J Appl Physiol 104:976–981CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Low DA, Wingo JE, Keller DM, Davis SL, Cui J, Zhang R, Crandall CG (2009) Dynamic cerebral autoregulation during passive heat stress in humans. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 296:R1598–R1605CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Lucas RA, Cotter JD, Morrison S, Ainslie PN (2008) The effects of ageing and passive heating on cardiorespiratory and cerebrovascular responses to orthostatic stress in humans. Exp Physiol 93:1104–1117CrossRefPubMed
Meng L, Hou W, Chui J, Han R, Gelb AW (2015) Cardiac output and cerebral blood flow: the integrated regulation of brain perfusion in adult humans. Anesthesiology 123:1198–1208CrossRef
Minson CT, Wladkowski SL, Cardell AF, Pawelczyk JA, Kenney WL (1998) Age alters the cardiovascular response to direct passive heating. J Appl Physiol 84:1323–1332CrossRefPubMed
Nakata H, Oshiro M, Namba M, Shibasaki M (2015) Effects of passive heat stress on human somatosensory processing. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 309:R1387–R1396CrossRefPubMed
Nakata H, Miyamoto T, Ogoh S, Kakigi R, Shibasaki M (2017) Effects of acute hypoxia on human cognitive processing: a study using ERPs and SEPs. J Appl Physiol 123:1246–1255CrossRefPubMed
Nelson MD, Haykowsky MJ, Stickland MK, Altamirano-Diaz LA, Willie CK, Smith KJ, Petersen SR, Ainslie PN (2011) Reductions in cerebral blood flow during passive heat stress in humans: partitioning the mechanisms. J Physiol 589:4053–4064CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Ogoh S, Brothers RM, Barnes Q, Eubank WL, Hawkins MN, Purkayastha S, A OY, Raven PB (2005) The effect of changes in cardiac output on middle cerebral artery mean blood velocity at rest and during exercise. J Physiol 569:697–704CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Ogoh S, Nakahara H, Okazaki K, Bailey DM, Miyamoto T (2013a) Cerebral hypoperfusion modifies the respiratory chemoreflex during orthostatic stress. Clin Sci 125:37–44CrossRefPubMed
Ogoh S, Sato K, Nakahara H, Okazaki K, Subudhi AW, Miyamoto T (2013b) Effect of acute hypoxia on blood flow in vertebral and internal carotid arteries. Exp Physiol 98:692–698CrossRefPubMed
Ogoh S, Sato K, Okazaki K, Miyamoto T, Hirasawa A, Morimoto K, Shibasaki M (2013c) Blood flow distribution during heat stress: cerebral and systemic blood flow. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 33:1915–1920CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Ogoh S, Sato K, Okazaki K, Miyamoto T, Hirasawa A, Shibasaki M (2014) Hyperthermia modulates regional differences in cerebral blood flow to changes in CO2. J Appl Physiol 117:46–52CrossRefPubMed
Ogoh S, Sato K, Okazaki K, Miyamoto T, Hirasawa A, Sadamoto T, Shibasaki M (2015) Blood flow in internal carotid and vertebral arteries during graded lower body negative pressure in humans. Exp Physiol 100:259–266CrossRefPubMed
Oudegeest-Sander MH, van Beek AH, Abbink K, Olde Rikkert MG, Hopman MT, Claassen JA (2014) Assessment of dynamic cerebral autoregulation and cerebrovascular CO2 reactivity in ageing by measurements of cerebral blood flow and cortical oxygenation. Exp Physiol 99:586–598CrossRefPubMed
Parkes LM, Rashid W, Chard DT, Tofts PS (2004) Normal cerebral perfusion measurements using arterial spin labeling: reproducibility, stability, and age and gender effects. Magn Reson Med 51:736–743CrossRef
Ramanathan NL (1964) A new weighting system for mean surface temperature of the human body. J Appl Physiol 19:531–533CrossRefPubMed
Sato K, Fisher JP, Seifert T, Overgaard M, Secher NH, Ogoh S (2012) Blood flow in internal carotid and vertebral arteries during orthostatic stress. Exp Physiol 97:1272–1280CrossRefPubMed
Serrador JM, Hughson RL, Kowalchuk JM, Bondar RL, Gelb AW (2006) Cerebral blood flow during orthostasis: role of arterial CO2. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 290:R1087–R1093CrossRefPubMed
Shibasaki M, Namba M, Oshiro M, Kakigi R, Nakata H (2017) Suppression of cognitive function in hyperthermia; from the viewpoint of executive and inhibitive cognitive processing. Sci Rep 7:43528CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Smith CJ, Alexander LM, Kenney WL (2013) Nonuniform, age-related decrements in regional sweating and skin blood flow. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 305:R877–R885CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Sonntag WE, Eckman DM, Ingraham J, Riddle DR (2007) Regulation of cerebrovascular aging. In: Riddle DR (ed) Brain aging: models, methods, and mechanisms. CRC Press, Boca Raton
Spina RJ, Ogawa T, Kohrt WM, Martin WH 3rd, Holloszy JO, Ehsani AA (1993) Differences in cardiovascular adaptations to endurance exercise training between older men and women. J Appl Physiol 75:849–855CrossRefPubMed
Tarumi T, Ayaz Khan M, Liu J, Tseng BY, Parker R, Riley J, Tinajero C, Zhang R (2014) Cerebral hemodynamics in normal aging: central artery stiffness, wave reflection, and pressure pulsatility. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 34:971–978CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Thomas KN, Cotter JD, Galvin SD, Williams MJ, Willie CK, Ainslie PN (2009) Initial orthostatic hypotension is unrelated to orthostatic tolerance in healthy young subjects. J Appl Physiol 107:506–517CrossRefPubMed
Tymko MM, Skow RJ, MacKay CM, Day TA (2015) Steady-state tilt has no effect on cerebrovascular CO2 reactivity in anterior and posterior cerebral circulations. Exp Physiol 100:839–851CrossRefPubMed
Vaitkevicius PV, Fleg JL, Engel JH, O’Connor FC, Wright JG, Lakatta LE, Yin FC, Lakatta EG (1993) Effects of age and aerobic capacity on arterial stiffness in healthy adults. Circulation 88:1456–1462CrossRefPubMed
Van Lieshout JJ, Wieling W, Karemaker JM, Secher NH (2003) Syncope, cerebral perfusion, and oxygenation. J Appl Physiol 94:833–848CrossRefPubMed
Wilson PW, D’Agostino RB, Levy D, Belanger AM, Silbershatz H, Kannel WB (1998) Prediction of coronary heart disease using risk factor categories. Circulation 97:1837–1847CrossRef
Wilson TE, Cui J, Zhang R, Witkowski S, Crandall CG (2002) Skin cooling maintains cerebral blood flow velocity and orthostatic tolerance during tilting in heated humans. J Appl Physiol 93:85–91CrossRefPubMed
Wilson TE, Cui J, Zhang R, Crandall CG (2006) Heat stress reduces cerebral blood velocity and markedly impairs orthostatic tolerance in humans. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 291:R1443–R1448CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Woodman RJ, Playford DA, Watts GF, Cheetham C, Reed C, Taylor RR, Puddey IB, Beilin LJ, Burke V, Mori TA, Green D (2001) Improved analysis of brachial artery ultrasound using a novel edge-detection software system. J Appl Physiol 91:929–937CrossRef
Zhang R, Zuckerman JH, Levine BD (1998) Deterioration of cerebral autoregulation during orthostatic stress: insights from the frequency domain. J Appl Physiol 85:1113–1122CrossRefPubMed
Metadata
Title
The effects of aging on the distribution of cerebral blood flow with postural changes and mild hyperthermia
Authors
Akemi Ota
Ryosuke Takeda
Daiki Imai
Nooshin Naghavi
Eriko Kawai
Kosuke Saho
Emiko Morita
Yuta Suzuki
Hisayo Yokoyama
Toshiaki Miyagawa
Kazunobu Okazaki
Publication date
01-05-2019
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
European Journal of Applied Physiology / Issue 5/2019
Print ISSN: 1439-6319
Electronic ISSN: 1439-6327
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-019-04118-5

Other articles of this Issue 5/2019

European Journal of Applied Physiology 5/2019 Go to the issue

Original Article

Efficacy of a new strength training design: the 3/7 method

Original Article

Characterization of torque generating properties of ankle plantar flexor muscles in ambulant adults with cerebral palsy

Original Article

Neuromuscular adaptations to wide-pulse high-frequency neuromuscular electrical stimulation training

Original Article

High-intensity interval exercise promotes post-exercise hypotension of greater magnitude compared to moderate-intensity continuous exercise

Original Article

Sprint exercise snacks: a novel approach to increase aerobic fitness

Original Article

Effects of the trunk position on muscle stiffness that reflects elongation of the lumbar erector spinae and multifidus muscles: an ultrasonic shear wave elastography study