Animal study · Supplements / medicine · 21 Sept 2026
In mice, a core-muscle squeeze pinched brain veins in about a tenth of a second
Source: EurekAlert / Penn State
What the research found
Study (animal). Penn State researchers in the Drew Lab report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (news release 21 September 2026) that abdominal-muscle contraction, from movement, exercise, or even a cough, raises pressure in vessels that reach the brain through the spinal column. In mice that pressure produced ultrafast constriction of major brain veins, within about a tenth of a second, and a brief rise in blood flow. Arterial constriction is slower, on the order of a second or more. Preclinical physiology, not a human workout prescription and not a migraine treatment. Educational exercise notes.
Evidence level: Animal study. Results in animals or cells often don't carry over to people.
More supplements / medicine news
- In mice, the experimental drug KCL-286 reduced DNA breaks and brain inflammation in an Alzheimer's model
- In aged rats, two weeks of the experimental drug cinaciguat cut circulating amyloid-beta about in half and brought LDL down to youthful levels
- In 104 people with a sudden retinal-artery blockage, papaverine use lined up with better functional vision in a retrospective comparison
- A Cell Metabolism letter questions whether a fasting GLP-1 level shows how many gut L-cells a person has
- In FDA reports, caffeine and stimulant supplement use was tied to cardiac arrest about 11 times more often, and 45 percent of those cardiovascular reports were ages 18 to 34