EFFECT OF MILD ACUTE HYPOXIA ON HUMAN SHORT-TERM MEMORY
Open Access
- 1 June 1971
- journal article
- clinical trial
- Published by Elsevier in British Journal of Anaesthesia
- Vol. 43 (6) , 548-552
- https://doi.org/10.1093/bja/43.6.548
Abstract
Although there is considerable dispute about the minimum degree of acute hypoxia needed to impair human psychological performance, some workers have suggested that acute exposure to a PIO2 as high as 120 mm Hg may have a demonstrable effect on mental ability. We have investigated the effects, on human short-term memory, of acute exposure to simulated altitudes of 2,000 feet (PIO2≏;139 mm Hg), 8,000 feet (PIO2≏ 108 mm Hg) and 12,000 feet (PIO2≏92 mm Hg). There was no detectable difference between subjects' performances at the lower two altitudes; at 12,000 feet, however, short-term memory appeared to be impaired, although the impairment did not quite reach statistical significance (t=1.86; P≏0.07).Keywords
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