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Accession Number:
ADA561029
Title:
Cognitive Effects of Hypercapnia on Immersed Working Divers
Descriptive Note:
Technical rept. Feb 2009-Oct 2010
Corporate Author:
NAVY EXPERIMENTAL DIVING UNIT PANAMA CITY FL
Report Date:
2010-10-01
Pagination or Media Count:
40.0
Abstract:
Cognitive effects of inspired doses of CO2 during submerged working dives have previously not been explored. Three experiments using male volunteer Navy divers in the NEDU test pool under 12 feet of fresh water explored 1 dose-related and onoff effects of 1.5 Phase 1a, N20 and 3 Phase 1b, N16 inspired CO2 2 questions of whether switching to gas free of CO2 results in further changes in performance or restoration to baseline Phase 2, N34 and 3 differences in the effects of CO2 in air vice in O2 Phase 3, N16. End tidal CO2 was collected from all divers and correlated with cognitive performance. The Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics, version 4 ANAM4, was used before and four times during each dive with three intermittent periods of mild or moderate exercise during each dive to measure nine cognitive domains. No dose-related effect of CO2 was found. Basic cognitive domains of simple reaction time, visual scanning, visuo-spatial processing, and learning were unaffected, while fatigue and the higher cognitive functions of short-term memory STM, long-term memory LTM, working memory WM, math processing, and sustained attention produced perplexing results. Most consistent of all differences was the decrease in LTM while divers were on CO2, a decrease that persisted in Phase 1 even after divers were removed from CO2 and returned to O2. Math processing, WM, and sustained attention increased among divers both during and after breathing CO2. STM decreased on CO2 in Phase 1 but not in Phase 2. No cognitive changes were detected on air, when end tidal CO2 remained closer to normal than on O2. While some participants reported mild to moderate symptoms e.g., headache, shortness of breath, irritability, and lack of concentration, end tidal CO2 levels were mostly 7 Surface Equivalent Value SEV. Because subjects were not hypercapnic, we cannot address the question of the study. Further investigation of the effects of inspired CO2
Distribution Statement:
APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
