Fig. 1.

Aging impairs neurovascular coupling in healthy individuals. (a) Representative fundus image showing a retinal arteriole (red arrow) and a retinal venule (blue arrow) in which flicker light stimulus-induced diameter changes were recorded using the dynamic vessel analysis (DVA) approach. (b) Time course of flicker light stimulation-induced changes in diameter of retinal arterioles in young (black, n = 18) and aged (red, n = 11) individuals. (c) Summary data showing that older individuals exhibit reduced mean maximal arteriolar dilation (% to baseline) in response to flicker light stimulation as compared to young controls. Data are mean ± SEM