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Updated: Feb 23, 2026
Assessment of Neuromuscular Function Using Percutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation
Published on: September 13, 2015
Effects of dominant and non-dominant passive arm manoeuvres on the neurovascular coupling response
Osian Llwyd1,2, Ronney B Panerai3,4, Thompson G Robinson3,4
1Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Cerebral Haemodynamics in Ageing and Stroke Medicine Research Group, University of Leicester, Robert Kilpatrick Clinical Sciences Building, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, LE2 7LX, UK. o.llwyd@leicester.ac.uk.
Purpose:
Models designed to study neurovascular coupling (NVC) describe a possible cerebral hemisphere dominance dependent on task completed and preference in handedness. We investigated whether passive arm manoeuvre performed with dominant (Dom-Arm) or non-dominant arm (ND-Arm) stimulated haemodynamic differences in either contralateral (Cont-H) or ipsilateral (Ipsil-H) cerebral hemisphere.
Methods:
Healthy individuals lying in supine position, had measurements of beat-to-beat blood pressure (BP, mmHg), electrocardiogram (HR, bpm), end-tidal CO2 (etCO2, mmHg), and bilateral insonation of the middle cerebral arteries (MCA, cm s-1). Arm movement was performed for 60 s with passive flexion and extension of the elbow (1 Hz), before manoeuvre was repeated on other arm. Data were normalised and effect of treatment was analysed for differences between manoeuvres and within each time period.
Results:
Seventeen (eight males) healthy volunteers, aged 56 ± 7 years, were studied. Dom-Arm and ND-Arm manoeuvres stimulated a comparable temporal response in peripheral and cerebral haemodynamic parameters between Cont-H and Ipsil-H.
Conclusions:
Both manoeuvres can be used to evoke similar bilateral MCA responses in assessing NVC. This finding should lead to more efficient protocols when using passive arm movement for NVC studies in healthy subjects.
