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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Mar 13.
Published in final edited form as: Acta Physiol (Oxf). 2013 Nov 5;210(2):429–439. doi: 10.1111/apha.12173

Figure 5. Schematic illustration of the differing responses to passive leg movement (PLM) in subjects with a spinal cord injury (SCI) and able-bodied controls (CTRL).

Figure 5

In CTRL, neurological feedback from the moving limb triggers central responses (increasing HR and CO) which results in an increase in leg blood flow in the non-moving leg (CONTROL LEG) and the moving leg (PASSIVE LEG), accounting for ~35% of the increase in leg blood flow in the latter. Peripheral vasodilation is responsible for the remaining ~65% increase in leg blood flow in the PASSIVE LEG. In contrast, in the SCI group, there is no feedback from the passively moved limb and so there is no increase in HR and CO, which can contribute to raising blood flow in the CONTROL LEG and the PASSIVE LEG. Hence, in subjects with a SCI, peripheral vasodilation is responsible for all the movement-induced increase in leg blood flow in the PASSIVE LEG.