Brain anticipatory cardiovascular responses to exercise

Cardiovascular responses during the exposure to
psychological and/or physical stress have been
described since more than a century. The autonomic
adjustments in response to these conditions are known
to be mediated by central signals (Central Command)
descending from higher brain centres as well as,
during physical exercise, from peripheral reflexes
arising from working muscles. Studies performed in
exercise and non-exercise conditions, allowed to
dissociate the role of peripheral inputs and central
signals in the genesis of cardiovascular responses to stressors and to precise their role in the arousal of physiological functions
following, or even before, the exposure to stress events. In fact cardiovascular
arousal is often of anticipatory nature since it promotes metabolic, respiratory,
cardiovascular and musculoskeletal changes even before the exercise onset.
This review in particular focuses on the hemodynamic responses in
preparation to exercise, their differences in comparison to cardiovascular
responses induced by psychological stressors as well as on the CNS structures
and mechanisms involved in their genesis.