Visually evoked blood flow response assessed by simultaneous two-channel transcranial Doppler using flow velocity averaging.

Abstract

We assessed the influence of different visual stimuli and the reproducibility and habituation of evoked flow responses using simultaneous two-channel transcranial Doppler monitoring and flow velocity averaging. We measured stimulus-related percentage changes in posterior cerebral, basilar, and middle cerebral artery blood flow velocities in 14 normal volunteers using stimulus-triggered velocity averaging. With a two-channel transcranial Doppler system, simultaneous measurements in two arteries (both posterior cerebral arteries and the basilar and middle cerebral artery) were taken using multiple-array light-emitting diodes applying flash stimuli. Both posterior cerebral arteries were monitored to assess reproducibility and habituation of the evoked response with repetitive measurements under unchanged conditions and to analyze the influence of different features of the visual stimulus. There was a distinctive increase in velocities resulting from visual stimuli in both posterior cerebral and the basilar arteries but not in the middle cerebral artery. The responses in both posterior cerebral arteries were larger than in the basilar artery (P = .0001). Brightness (P < .0001), as well as complexity (P < .0001), of the visual stimulus had a significant influence on the response amplitude. There was a trend toward a greater right-sided activation. Amplitudes of the evoked response were very stable during repetitive testing (coefficient of variation of the difference was 0.6). There was a trend toward habituation with monotonous (flash) but not with complex visual stimuli. A "zero" stimulus produced no responses. The use of flow velocity averaging and two-channel simultaneous recording increases the sensitivity of transcranial Doppler monitoring to detect and correlate selective flow changes in the posterior cerebral arteries resulting from cerebral activation produced by visual stimulation.