The aim of this observational study was to compare head motion and prefrontal haemodynamics during exercise using three commercial cycling ergometers. Participants (n = 12) completed an incremental exercise test to exhaustion during upright, recumbent and semi-recumbent cycling. Head motion (using accelerometry), physiological data (oxygen uptake, end-tidal carbon dioxide [PET CO2 ] and heart rate) and changes in prefrontal haemodynamics (oxygenation, deoxygenation and blood volume using near infrared spectroscopy [NIRS]) were recorded. Despite no difference in oxygen uptake and heart rate, head motion was higher and PET CO2 was lower during upright cycling at maximal exercise (P<0·05). Analyses of covariance (covariates: head motion P>0·05; PET CO2 , P<0·01) revealed that prefrontal oxygenation was higher during semi-recumbent than recumbent cycling and deoxygenation and blood volume were higher during upright than recumbent and semi-recumbent cycling (respectively; P<0·05). This work highlights the robustness of the utility of NIRS to head motion and describes the potential postural effects upon the prefrontal haemodynamic response during upright and recumbent cycling exercise.
Keywords: cerebral oxygenation; cycle ergometry; exercise intensity; head motion; maximal exercise testing; near infrared spectroscopy.
© 2016 Scandinavian Society of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.