The passive relationship between arterial blood pressure (ABP) and cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) has been expressed by a single parameter (cerebrovascular resistance, CVR) or, alternatively, by a two-parameter model, comprising a resistance element (resistance-area product, RAP) and a critical closing pressure (CrCP). We tested the hypothesis that the RAP+CrCP model can provide a more consistent interpretation to CBFV responses induced by mental activation tasks, than the CVR model. Continuous recordings of CBFV (bilateral, middle cerebral artery (MCA)), ABP, ECG and end-tidal CO₂ (EtCO₂) were performed in 13 right-handed healthy subjects (aged 21-43 years), in the seated position, at rest and during 10 repeated presentations of a word generation and a constructional puzzle paradigm that are known to induce differential cortical activation. Due to its small relative change, the CBFV response can be broken down into standardized sub-components describing the relative contributions of ABP, CVR, RAP and CrCP. At rest and during activation, the RAP+CrCP model suggested that RAP might reflect myogenic activity in response to the ABP transient, whilst CrCP was more indicative of metabolic control. These different influences were not reflected by the CVR model which indicated a predominantly metabolic response. Repeated measures MANOVA showed that CrCP (p=0.025), RAP (p=0.046) and CVR (p=0.002) changed significantly during activation. CrCP also had a significant effect of paradigm (p=0.045), but not hemispheric dominance. Both RAP (p=0.039) and CVR (p=0.0008) had significant effects of hemispheric dominance, but were not sensitive to the different paradigms. Sub-component analysis can help with the interpretation of CBFV responses to mental activation which were found to be dependent on the underlying model of the passive ABP-CBFV relationship.