The classic dogma of cerebral autoregulation is that cerebral blood flow is steadily maintained across a wide range of perfusion pressures. This has been challenged by recent studies suggesting little to no 'autoregulatory plateau' in the relationship between cerebral blood flow and blood pressure (BP). Therefore, the mechanisms underlying the cerebral pressure-flow relationship still require further understanding. Here we present a novel approach to examine dynamic cerebral autoregulation in conscious Wistar rats (n=16) instrumented to measure BP and internal carotid blood flow (iCBF), as an indicator of cerebral blood flow. Transient reductions in BP were induced by occluding the vena cava via inflation of a chronically implanted intravascular silicone balloon. Falls in BP were paralleled by progressive decreases in iCBF, with no evidence of a steady state plateau. No significant changes in internal carotid vascular resistance (iCVR) were observed. In contrast, intravenous infusions of the vasoactive drug sodium nitroprusside (SNP) produced a similar fall in BP but increases in iCBF and decreases in iCVR. These data suggest a considerable confounding influence of vasodilatory drugs such as SNP on cerebrovascular tone in the rat, making them unsuitable to investigate cerebral autoregulation. We demonstrate that our technique of transient vena cava occlusion produced reliable and repeatable depressor responses, highlighting the potential for our approach to permit assessment of the dynamic cerebral pressure-flow relationship over time in conscious rats.