Two transcranial Doppler studies on blood flow velocity in both middle cerebral arteries during rest and the performance of cognitive tasks.

While the middle cerebral artery (MCA) blood flow velocity changes relative to rest were assessed with transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD), 28 right-handed subjects with no sign of cerebrovascular disease performed two series of 6 cognitive tasks (two series = right and left MCA). The tasks included "reading", "finding nouns with a given first letter", and "multiplication" in four comparable versions to be performed aloud and silently in each of the two series. All of the tasks increased the MCA blood flow velocity bilaterally (2.7-12.1%). A significant left-right difference was present during "noun finding aloud" (left greater than right by 4.7%). A statistically insignificant tendency in the same direction was also present for the five other tasks. During loud reading the increase was higher bilaterally than during silent reading. Blood flow velocity changes in the right MCA for the three tasks performed aloud were lower in older than in younger people. It is posited that older people perform the tasks more slowly and under less stress requiring less right-hemispheric participation. Averaging the results for each of the four subjects involved leads to the conclusion that future TCD-lateralization studies should be done bilaterally at the same time to assess lateralization in a single person.