Oxygen saturation and cognitive performanceShow others and affiliations
2002 (English)In: Psychopharmacology, ISSN 0033-3158, E-ISSN 1432-2072, Vol. 162, p. 119-128Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
The purpose of the experiments was to investigate how inhalation of 100% oxygen affected cognitive performance. A test battery was developed that was designed to capture different aspects of cognitive processes, i.e., perception, attention, working memory, long-term memory and prospective memory. All tests were verbally based, thus reducing cognitive spatial processes to a minimum. In experiment 1, 48 participants volunteered in a complete factorial within-participant design. Two different conditions for type of gas were used, inhalation of 100% oxygen and inhalation of breathing air (approximately 21% oxygen balanced with nitrogen). The inhalation was performed during the 1 min prior to starting each separate test. The instructions for each test were given during the inhalation period. All participants inhaled oxygen or breathing air through a Swedish military pilot mask. Physiological (heartbeats per minute and blood oxygen saturation level) reactions were recorded continuously throughout the session. Participants also completed a mood-state questionnaire before and after the test battery. The results revealed that cognitive performance were not affected by inhalation. Hence, this experiment does not replicate previous findings that suggest that inhalation of 100% oxygen could increase cognitive performance. Another experiment was performed to control for methodological issues. Experiment 2 revealed exactly the same pattern, i.e., inhalation of oxygen did not affect cognitive functioning.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer, 2002. Vol. 162, p. 119-128
National Category
Psychology
Research subject
Disaster Medicine
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-173262DOI: 10.1007/s00213-002-1077-3ISI: 000177067000003PubMedID: 12110989Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-0036019547OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-173262DiVA, id: diva2:1527581
2021-02-112021-02-112021-02-16Bibliographically approved