Research groups at the University of Tsukuba and Niigata University of Health and Welfare have revealed for the first time that cognitive fatigue caused by hypoxic exercise at high altitudes is associated with a decrease in blood oxygen saturation induced by hypoxic exercise. I made it.

 Physical activity and sports at high altitudes such as mountain climbing and trail running are gaining popularity, but the higher the altitude and the more intense the exercise, the easier it is to feel fatigue, and the greater the risk of falls and slipping.It is assumed that this involves deterioration of executive function (cognitive fatigue) of the brain such as attention and judgment.

 So far, the research team has said that exercising while inhaling hypoxic air that imitates high altitude (exercise under hypoxia) reduces the activity of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of the brain and causes cognitive fatigue. Has been clarified.At that time, it was also confirmed that the blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) was significantly reduced.

 We went further and examined whether the decrease in SpO2 that occurs during exercise contributes to cognitive fatigue. A 14-minute medium-intensity pedaling exercise was performed on 10 subjects, and before and after that, a task was conducted to examine the executive function of the subjects.We compared the case where the subject was kept in a moderately hypoxic state (equivalent to an altitude of 3500 m) and the case where the oxygen concentration supplied only during exercise was increased to prevent the decrease in SpO2.

 As a result, it was found that preventing the decrease in SpO2 during exercise can prevent both the hypoactivity and executive function of the left brain DLPFC after exercise.This demonstrated for the first time that a decrease in SpO2 (hypoxic blood) is involved in the development of cognitive fatigue caused by exercise under hypoxia.

 The results of this research are cognitive fatigue coping methods such as prediction of cognitive fatigue in high-altitude environment by SpO2 monitoring, oxygen inhalation support and pre-training method to suppress SpO2 decrease (acclimation training to hypoxic environment, etc.). It is expected to lead to development.

Paper information:[Scientific Reports] Cognitive fatigue due to exercise under normobaric hypoxia is related to hypoxemia during exercise

University of Tsukuba

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Niigata University of Health and Welfare

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