Aging is associated with enhanced central but impaired peripheral arms of the sympathetic baroreflex arc
Andrew W. D’Souza, Stephen A. Klassen, Mark B. Badrov, Sophie Lalande, J. Kevin Shoemaker
Abstract
The present study demonstrates for the first time that the spontaneous baroreflex threshold gains of integrated muscle sympathetic nerve activity burst occurrence and medium-sized action potential clusters are greater in older compared with young adults. Since sympathetic transduction was blunted in older compared with young adults, we interpret the data to indicate that the central arc of the baroreflex is enhanced in older adults to compensate for impairments in the peripheral arc.
Topics & Concepts
BaroreflexMicroneurographyBlood pressureSupine positionMedicineInternal medicineYoung adultSympathetic nervous systemCardiologyAutonomic nervous systemHeart rateAnesthesiaHeart Rate Variability and Autonomic ControlCardiovascular and exercise physiologyThermoregulation and physiological responses