Background: Ankle exercise has been proven to be an effective intervention to increase venous velocity. However,\nthe efficacy of ankle exercise for improving cerebral circulation has not been determined. We hypothesized that\nankle exercise in the supine position would be able to increase oxyhemoglobin levels measured at the forehead.\nMethods: Seventeen community-dwelling elderly women participated in this study. We recorded blood pressure,\nheart rate (HR), and oxyhemoglobin (OxyHb) levels from the participants in the supine position. Participants repeated\nankle plantar flexion and dorsiflexion movements for 1 min. Two types of exercise were used: active movement and\npassive movement. We used two-way analysis of variance to assess the differences in mean arterial blood pressure\n(MAP), HR, and OxyHb between different exercises (active and passive) and times (before and after exercise).\nResults: The HR and MAP increased during active exercise but not during passive exercise. On the other hand, the\nlevels of OxyHb measured at the forehead were elevated during both active and passive exercises. This increase lasted\nat least 1 min after exercise. There was no significant difference between active and passive exercise with regard to\nOxyHb; however, a significant difference was observed between before and after exercise (p < 0.05, ?2\nG = 0.153).\nConclusions: The physiological response of OxyHb to ankle exercise was different from that of the other cardiovascular\nfunctions. Both active and passive ankle exercises were able to increase cerebral blood oxygenation, whereas the other\ncardiovascular functions did not respond to passive exercise.
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