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Effect of single hyperbaric oxygen treatment on attention networks in young migrants in Tibet 

BU Xiao-Ou, YANG Xi-Yue, ZHANG De-Long, MA Hai-Lin^*

Plateau Brain Science Research Center, Tibet University/South China Normal University, Lhasa 850000/Guangzhou 510631, China

Abstract

Many studies have shown that high-altitude exposure could significantly influence human cognition, and the approaches which could enhance the human cognition in high-altitude hypoxia environment attract great attention. In the present study, we recruited a total of 60 subjects who had been migrated to Tibet University as adults for more than one year. These participants were randomly divided into the experimental group and the control group. The participants in the experimental group were instructed to complete a hyperbaric oxygen treatment, and those in the control group just completed a wait condition. By using the attention network test (ANT), the changes of the attention function before and after a single session of hyperbaric oxygen treatment were explored. The results showed that single hyperbaric oxygen treatment significantly improved the orienting function of attention, with an obvious post-intervention effect, but not the alerting and conflict function of attention. We also found a strong association between alerting function and conflict function after the end of intervention, suggesting the change of the overall performance of attention function. The present findings might suggest that the improvement of attention function by a single session of hyperbaric oxygen intervention is derived from the increase of general cognitive resources, rather than the transfer of cognitive resources within the attention system.

Key words: high altitude; hyperbaric oxygen; attention network test; migrants; attention resource

Received: 2020-06-29　　Accepted: 2021-01-25

Corresponding author: 马海林　　E-mail: 83976475@qq.com

DOI: 10.13294/j.aps.2021.0016

Citing This Article：

BU Xiao-Ou, YANG Xi-Yue, ZHANG De-Long, MA Hai-Lin. Effect of single hyperbaric oxygen treatment on attention networks in young migrants in Tibet . Acta Physiol Sin 2021; 73 (2): 286-294 (in Chinese with English abstract).