Relation betwEen Abdominal Aorta and Carotid Artery Responses to SymPathetic stimulatiON uSing duplEx Ultrasound

The CAR test will be applied to stimulate the sympathetic nervous system. This thermal stimulus is known to elevate blood pressure via sympathetic pathways, so it can be used to study the vascular response to sympathetic activation. The participant will submerge their left hand in a bucket of ice water (approximately 4 degrees celcius) for 3 minutes, which is reported to be sufficient to induce a maximal dilation in the common carotid artery. At baseline and every minute after the hand is submerged in ice water, the blood pressure will be measured to check whether a sympathetic stimulation is achieved. During this test as well the carotid artery as the abdominal aorta will be visualized using ultrasound.