Effect of Acute Cardiovascular Exercise on Cerebral Blood Flow: A Systematic Review

Abstract

A single bout of cardiovascular exercise can have a cascade of physiological effects, including increased blood flow to the brain. This effect has been documented across multiple modalities, yet studies have reported mixed findings. Here, we systematically review evidence for the acute effect of cardiovascular exercise on cerebral blood flow across a range of neuroimaging techniques and exercise characteristics. Based on 52 studies and a combined sample size of 1,174 individuals, our results indicate that the acute effect of cardiovascular exercise on cerebral blood flow generally follows an inverted U-shaped relationship, whereby blood flow increases early on but eventually decreases as exercise continues. However, we also find that this effect is not uniform across studies, instead varying across a number of key variables including exercise characteristics, brain regions, and neuroimaging modalities. As the most comprehensive synthesis on the topic to date, this systematic review sheds light on the determinants of exercise-induced change in cerebral blood flow, a necessary step toward personalized interventions targeting brain health across a range of populations.

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“…Consider for example the case of post-exercise improvements in cognitive performance. Typically, an acute bout of exercise is followed by an increase in performance on cognitive tasks (Kao et al, 2022;Moreau & Chou, 2019), often thought to stem from a cascade of factors such as higher arousal, alertness, and possibly increased blood flow to the brain (Mulser & Moreau, 2023). This is a robust finding in the specialized literature, and has been replicated across a range of exercise types and intensities, including both moderate and high-intensity cardiovascular exercise (Moreau & Chou, 2019).…”

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“…Meanwhile, the underlying changes in regional brain activity remain understudied. Considering cerebral blood flow (CBF) as an important surrogate marker for brain activity, human evidence mainly comes from transcranial doppler sonography or near infrared spectroscopy studies, and suggests at least transient perfusion increases which may plateau or return to baseline, depending on duration and intensity of exercise bouts, among other factors [8]. But these methods provide no (or limited) information about region-specific effects, and there are theoretical accounts which assume that resource limitations may also necessitate temporary downregulation of certain brain regions (e.g.…”