Ying Hao1, Zhiyue Xia2, Haibin Zhu3, Xiaoying Wang1, 3, Jing Fang1, 4, Jue Zhang1, 4, Dapeng Bao2
1Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China; 2Beijing Sport University; 3Peking University First Hospital; 4Department of Engineering, Peking University
Most studies have utilized noninvasive BOLD-fMRI to depict the central neural adaption to physical fatigue or exhaustion; however, the large-scale effects of exercise on the cardio-pulmonary systems may influence the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal independent of neuronal activation. Thus, arterial spin labeling (ASL), which is capable of acquiring regional CBF values noninvasively, was proposed here to depict the brain response to exercise fatigue and exhaustion. Eight athletes were conducted the PASL scan pre- and post- the ergometer tasks on fatigue and exhaustion levels. Significant CBF reduction was observed after both kinds of exercises.