Cerebral pulsatility reflects a balance between the transmission and damping of pulsatility in the cerebrovasculature. Females experience greater cerebral pulsatility with aging which may have implications for sex differences in stroke risk and cognitive decline. This study sought to explore vascular contributors to cerebral pulsatility and pulsatile damping in men and women. 282 adults (53% female) underwent measurements of cerebral (middle cerebral artery) pulsatility, pulsatile damping (ratio of cerebral to carotid pulsatility), large artery stiffening (ratio of aortic to carotid pulse wave velocity), and carotid wave transmission/reflection dynamics using wave-intensity analysis. Multiple regression revealed older age, female sex, greater large artery stiffening, higher carotid pulse pressure, and greater forward wave energy was associated with increased cerebral pulsatility (adjusted R²=0.44, p<0.05). Contributors to decreased cerebral pulsatile damping included older age, female sex, and lower wave reflection index (adjusted R²=0.51, p<0.05). Our data link greater large artery stiffening, carotid pulse pressure, and forward wave energy to greater cerebral pulsatility, while greater carotid wave reflection may enhance cerebral pulsatile damping. Lower cerebral pulsatile damping among females may contribute to greater age-associated cerebral pulsatile burden compared to males.

中文翻译：

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年龄、性别和导致脑搏动和搏动阻尼的血管因素。

脑搏动反映了脑血管系统中搏动的传输和阻尼之间的平衡。随着年龄的增长，女性会经历更大的脑搏动，这可能会影响中风风险和认知能力下降的性别差异。本研究旨在探索导致男性和女性脑搏动和搏动阻尼的血管因素。282 名成人（53% 女性）接受了大脑（大脑中动脉）搏动、搏动阻尼（大脑与颈动脉搏动的比率）、大动脉僵硬（主动脉与颈动脉脉搏波速度的比率）和颈动脉波传输/反射动力学的测量使用波浪强度分析。多元回归显示年龄较大、女性、大动脉硬化程度更高、颈动脉脉压更高、² = 0.44，p<0.05）。降低脑搏动阻尼的因素包括年龄较大、女性和较低的波反射指数（调整后的 R ² =0.51，p<0.05）。我们的数据将更大的大动脉硬化、颈动脉脉压和前向波能量与更大的脑搏动联系起来，而更大的颈动脉波反射可能会增强脑搏动阻尼。与男性相比，女性较低的脑搏动阻尼可能导致更大的与年龄相关的脑搏动负担。