The acute effect of exercise intensity on peripheral and cerebral vascular function in healthy adults

Abstract

This is the first study to identify that acute improvements in peripheral vascular function following high-intensity interval exercise are not mirrored by improvements in cerebrovascular reactivity in healthy young adults. High-intensity interval exercise completed at both 75% and 90% V̇o2max increased brachial artery flow-mediated dilation 1 and 3 h following exercise, compared with continuous moderate-intensity exercise and a sedentary control condition. By contrast, cerebrovascular reactivity was unchanged following all four conditions.