Does oscillation size matter? Impact of added resistance on the cerebral pressure‐flow Relationship in females and males

Abstract Sinusoidal squat‐stand maneuvers (SSM) without resistance have been shown to produce ~30–50 mmHg swings in mean arterial pressure which are largely buffered in the brain via dynamic cerebral autoregulation (dCA). This study aimed to further elucidate how this regulatory mechanism is affected during SSM with added resistance (~20% bodyweight). Twenty‐five participants (sex/gender: 13 females/12 males) completed two bouts of 5‐min SSM for both bodyweight and resistance conditions (10% bodyweight in each arm) at frequencies of 0.05 Hz (20‐s squat/stand cycles) and 0.10 Hz (10‐s squat/stand cycles). Middle and posterior cerebral artery (MCA/PCA) cerebral blood velocities were indexed with transcranial Doppler ultrasound. Beat‐to‐beat blood pressure (BP) was quantified via finger photoplesmography. Transfer function analysis was employed to quantify dCA in both cerebral arteries across the cardiac cycle (diastole, mean, and systole). Two‐by‐two Analysis of Variance with generalized eta squared effect sizes were utilized to determine differences between resistance vs. bodyweight squats and between sexes/genders. Absolute mean and diastolic BP were elevated during the resistance squats (p 0.067); however, females displayed attenuated systolic regulation (p