Key result
Mild hypoxia at 7000 and 12,000 ft slows response times and reduces accuracy versus sea level.
Why the study?
Does mild hypoxia at altitudes of 7000 and 12,000 ft impair perceptual-motor performance in healthy male subjects?
Does mild hypoxia at altitudes of 7000 and 12,000 ft impair perceptual-motor performance in healthy male subjects?
Mild hypoxia at altitudes of 7000 and 12,000 ft significantly impairs perceptual-motor performance by slowing response times and reducing accuracy.
May warrant caution for perceptual-motor tasks at altitude; leaves open generalizability beyond healthy males.
Twelve healthy male subjects were required to make speeded judgements concerning the orientation of visual stimuli while breathing air at reduced partial pressure in a hypobaric chamber at altitudes of 7000 and 12,000 ft. A control condition was also conducted at sea level, and subjects received practice on the task at sea level prior to the commencement of the experiment. Significantly slower response times were obtained at 7000 and 12,000 ft relative to sea level. A signal-detection analysis showed that accuracy of judgement was significantly poorer at 12,000 ft, but oxygen deprivation has no systematic effect on response criterion.
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McCarthy et al. (1995) studied Healthy (n=12). Mild hypoxia (7000 and 12,000 ft altitude equivalent) vs. Sea level was evaluated on Response times and accuracy of judgement. Mild hypoxia at 7000 and 12,000 ft significantly slowed response times, and reduced accuracy of judgement at 12,000 ft compared to sea level.
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