Acute Normobaric Hypoxia Lowers Executive Functions among Young Men despite Increase of BDNF Concentration

Maciej Chroboczek (), Sylwester Kujach, Marcin Łuszczyk, Tomasz Grzywacz, Hideaki Soya and Radosław Laskowski
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Maciej Chroboczek: Department of Physiology, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, 80-336 Gdansk, Poland
Sylwester Kujach: Department of Physiology, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, 80-336 Gdansk, Poland
Marcin Łuszczyk: Department of Physiology, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, 80-336 Gdansk, Poland
Tomasz Grzywacz: Department of Sport, Institute of Physical Education, Kazimierz Wielki University, 85-064 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Hideaki Soya: Sports Neuroscience Division, Advanced Research Initiative for Human High Performance, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8574, Japan
Radosław Laskowski: Department of Physiology, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, 80-336 Gdansk, Poland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 17, 1-10

Abstract: Background: Decreased SpO 2 during hypoxia can cause cognitive function impairment, and the effects of acute hypoxia on high-order brain functions such as executive processing remain unclear. This study’s goal was to examine the impact of an acute normobaric hypoxia breathing session on executive function and biological markers. Methods: Thirty-two healthy subjects participated in a blind study performing two sessions of single 30 min breathing bouts under two conditions (normoxia (NOR) and normobaric hypoxia (NH), FIO 2 = 0.135). The Stroop test was applied to assess cognitive function. Results: No significant difference was observed in the Stroop interference in the “reading” part of the test in either condition; however, there was a significant increase in the “naming” part under NH conditions ( p = 0.003), which corresponded to a significant decrease in SpO 2 ( p < 0.001). There was a significant increase ( p < 0.013) in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) level after NH conditions compared to the baseline, which was not seen in NOR. In addition, a significant drop ( p < 0.001) in cortisol levels in the NOR group and a slight elevation in the NH group was noticed. Conclusions: According to these findings, acute hypoxia delayed cognitive processing for motor execution and reduced the neural activity in motor executive and inhibitory processing. We also noted that this negative effect was associated with decreased SpO 2 irrespective of a rise in BDNF.

Keywords: cognitive function; physical exercise; altitude; cortisol (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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