Probing Neural Networks Involved in Upregulation of Heart Rate and Blood Pressure During Handgrip

Jinqi Li¹, Michael Riedel, Karl Li², Claudia Ivette Huerta, Hsiao-Ying Wey³, Jacob L. Eisenrich², Timothy Q. Duong

fMRI studies were done on four healthy subjects who performed static handgrip. Two fMRI analyses were performed using FSL: 1) block-correlation of rest versus handgrip, and 2) linear-correlation with HR. Stronger activations in insula, thalamus and anterior cingulate, which were highly accepted as central command areas, in block correlation analysis largely disappeared in HR correlation analysis. We concluded that the commonly identified activation of thalamus and insular cortex, anterior cingulated are likely to be involved in performing the visual feedback tasks, but unlikely to be the predominant central command networks that drive HR or BP increases during exercise.