ArticlePhysiological reports2021
Does task complexity impact the neurovascular coupling response similarly between males and females?
Article in Physiological reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Physiological influences on neurovascular coupling: A systematic review of multimodal imaging approaches and recommendations for future study designs.Experimental physiology · 2025Pooled it
- Direct Evidence for the Feedforward Neurovascular Coupling Mechanism in Humans During Task Onset: An EEG-fNIRS-TCD Multimodal Imaging Study.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Relationship between the autonomic nervous system and cerebral autoregulation during controlled breathing.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Article
- Systolic versus diastolic differences in cerebrovascular reactivity to hypercapnic and hypocapnic challenges.European journal of applied physiology · 2025Article
- Challenging dynamic cerebral autoregulation across the physiological COExperimental physiology · 2025Article
- Examining the upper frequency limit of dynamic cerebral autoregulation: Considerations across the cardiac cycle during eucapnia.Experimental physiology · 2024Article
- The effect of posture on the age dependence of neurovascular coupling.Physiological reports · 2024Article
- Sensor-Assisted Analysis of Autonomic and Cerebrovascular Dysregulation following Concussion in an Individual with a History of Ten Concussions: A Case Study.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Neurovascular coupling is altered in women who have a history of brain injury from intimate partner violence: a preliminary study.Frontiers in global women's health · 2024Article
- Neurovascular coupling and cerebrovascular hemodynamics are modified by exercise training status at different stages of maturation during youth.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2023Article
- Sex modifies the relationship between age and neurovascular coupling in healthy adults.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2023Article
- Neurovascular coupling on trial: How the number of trials completed impacts the accuracy and precision of temporally derived neurovascular coupling estimates.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2022Article
- The scalability of common paradigms for assessment of cognitive function: A functional transcranial Doppler study.PloS one · 2022Article
- Cerebral blood flow regulation is not acutely altered after a typical number of headers in women footballers.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- Does task complexity impact the neurovascular coupling response similarly between males and females?Physiological reports · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWhile previous studies have demonstrated a complex visual scene search elicits a robust neurovascular coupling (NVC) response, it is unknown how the duration of visual stimuli presentation influences NVC metrics. This study examined how stimuli duration, in addition to biological sex and self-reported engagement impact NVC responses.
methodsParticipants (n = 20, female = 10) completed four visual paradigms. Three involved simple visual shapes presented at 0.5-, 2-, and 4-s intervals in randomized orders. The fourth paradigm was a complex visual scene search ("Where's Waldo?"). Participants completed eight cycles of 20-s eyes-closed followed by 40-s eyes-open. Transcranial Doppler ultrasound indexed posterior and middle cerebral artery velocities (PCA and MCA). Participants self-reported their engagement following each task (1 [minimal] to 10 [maximal]).
resultsThe "Where's Waldo?" task evoked greater PCA percent increase (all p < 0.001) and area under the curve during the first 30-s of the task (all p < 0.001) compared to simple shapes. Females displayed greater absolute baseline and peak PCA and MCA velocities across all tasks (all p < 0.002). Subjective engagement displayed moderate correlation levels with PCA percent increase (Spearman ρ = 0.58) and area under the curve (Spearman ρ = 0.60) metrics in males, whereas these were weak for females (Spearman ρ = 0.43 and ρ = 0.38, respectively).
conclusionsThe complex visual paradigm "Where's Waldo?" greatly augmented the signal-to-noise ratio within the PCA aspects of the NVC response compared to simple shapes. While both sexes had similar NVC responses, task engagement was more related to NVC metrics in males compared to females. Therefore, future NVC investigations should consider task engagement when designing studies.
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