Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions
Introduction: Cold water imposes many risks to the diver. These risks include decompression illness, physical and cognitive impairment, and hypothermia. Cognitive impairment can be estimated using a critical flicker fusion frequency (CFFF) test, but this method has only been used in a few studies co...
Published in: | Frontiers in Physiology |
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ftunivhelsihelda:oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/335044 2024-01-07T09:40:44+01:00 Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions Piispanen, Wilhelm W. Lundell, Richard V. Tuominen, Laura J. Räisänen-Sokolowski, Anne K. Department of Pathology Medicum HUSLAB 2021-10-07T08:21:01Z 10 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10138/335044 eng eng Frontiers Media 10.3389/fphys.2021.722915 The Finnish Defense Forces Center of Military Medicine and the Finnish Society of Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine (Suomen sukellus-ja ylipainelaaketieteellinen yhdistys ry) have both given financial support for breathing gas and other expenses at the data gathering phase of the study. Piispanen , W W , Lundell , R V , Tuominen , L J & Räisänen-Sokolowski , A K 2021 , ' Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions ' , Frontiers in Physiology , vol. 12 , 722915 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.722915 eb6e178d-5d00-42cf-af24-b3721324838f http://hdl.handle.net/10138/335044 000687960600001 cc_by openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess inert gas narcosis mixed gas diving thermal control technical diving arctic diving THERMAL STATUS GAS NARCOSIS OXYGEN NITROGEN HYPEROXIA AIR EXCITABILITY TEMPERATURE IMPAIRMENT ATTENTION 3111 Biomedicine Article publishedVersion 2021 ftunivhelsihelda 2023-12-14T00:02:21Z Introduction: Cold water imposes many risks to the diver. These risks include decompression illness, physical and cognitive impairment, and hypothermia. Cognitive impairment can be estimated using a critical flicker fusion frequency (CFFF) test, but this method has only been used in a few studies conducted in an open water environment. We studied the effect of the cold and a helium-containing mixed breathing gas on the cognition of closed circuit rebreather (CCR) divers. Materials and Methods: Twenty-three divers performed an identical dive with controlled trimix gas with a CCR device in an ice-covered quarry. They assessed their thermal comfort at four time points during the dive. In addition, their skin temperature was measured at 5-min intervals throughout the dive. The divers performed the CFFF test before the dive, at target depth, and after the dive. Results: A statistically significant increase of 111.7% in CFFF values was recorded during the dive compared to the pre-dive values (p < 0.0001). The values returned to the baseline after surfacing. There was a significant drop in the divers' skin temperature of 0.48 degrees C every 10 min during the dive (p < 0.001). The divers' subjectively assessed thermal comfort also decreased during the dive (p = 0.01). Conclusion: Our findings showed that neither extreme cold water nor helium-containing mixed breathing gas had any influence on the general CFFF profile described in the previous studies from warmer water and where divers used other breathing gases. We hypothesize that cold-water diving and helium-containing breathing gases do not in these diving conditions cause clinically relevant cerebral impairment. Therefore, we conclude that CCR diving in these conditions is safe from the perspective of alertness and cognitive performance. Peer reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository Arctic Frontiers in Physiology 12 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivhelsihelda |
language |
English |
topic |
inert gas narcosis mixed gas diving thermal control technical diving arctic diving THERMAL STATUS GAS NARCOSIS OXYGEN NITROGEN HYPEROXIA AIR EXCITABILITY TEMPERATURE IMPAIRMENT ATTENTION 3111 Biomedicine |
spellingShingle |
inert gas narcosis mixed gas diving thermal control technical diving arctic diving THERMAL STATUS GAS NARCOSIS OXYGEN NITROGEN HYPEROXIA AIR EXCITABILITY TEMPERATURE IMPAIRMENT ATTENTION 3111 Biomedicine Piispanen, Wilhelm W. Lundell, Richard V. Tuominen, Laura J. Räisänen-Sokolowski, Anne K. Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions |
topic_facet |
inert gas narcosis mixed gas diving thermal control technical diving arctic diving THERMAL STATUS GAS NARCOSIS OXYGEN NITROGEN HYPEROXIA AIR EXCITABILITY TEMPERATURE IMPAIRMENT ATTENTION 3111 Biomedicine |
description |
Introduction: Cold water imposes many risks to the diver. These risks include decompression illness, physical and cognitive impairment, and hypothermia. Cognitive impairment can be estimated using a critical flicker fusion frequency (CFFF) test, but this method has only been used in a few studies conducted in an open water environment. We studied the effect of the cold and a helium-containing mixed breathing gas on the cognition of closed circuit rebreather (CCR) divers. Materials and Methods: Twenty-three divers performed an identical dive with controlled trimix gas with a CCR device in an ice-covered quarry. They assessed their thermal comfort at four time points during the dive. In addition, their skin temperature was measured at 5-min intervals throughout the dive. The divers performed the CFFF test before the dive, at target depth, and after the dive. Results: A statistically significant increase of 111.7% in CFFF values was recorded during the dive compared to the pre-dive values (p < 0.0001). The values returned to the baseline after surfacing. There was a significant drop in the divers' skin temperature of 0.48 degrees C every 10 min during the dive (p < 0.001). The divers' subjectively assessed thermal comfort also decreased during the dive (p = 0.01). Conclusion: Our findings showed that neither extreme cold water nor helium-containing mixed breathing gas had any influence on the general CFFF profile described in the previous studies from warmer water and where divers used other breathing gases. We hypothesize that cold-water diving and helium-containing breathing gases do not in these diving conditions cause clinically relevant cerebral impairment. Therefore, we conclude that CCR diving in these conditions is safe from the perspective of alertness and cognitive performance. Peer reviewed |
author2 |
Department of Pathology Medicum HUSLAB |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Piispanen, Wilhelm W. Lundell, Richard V. Tuominen, Laura J. Räisänen-Sokolowski, Anne K. |
author_facet |
Piispanen, Wilhelm W. Lundell, Richard V. Tuominen, Laura J. Räisänen-Sokolowski, Anne K. |
author_sort |
Piispanen, Wilhelm W. |
title |
Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions |
title_short |
Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions |
title_full |
Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions |
title_fullStr |
Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions |
title_sort |
assessment of alertness and cognitive performance of closed circuit rebreather divers with the critical flicker fusion frequency test in arctic diving conditions |
publisher |
Frontiers Media |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10138/335044 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic |
op_relation |
10.3389/fphys.2021.722915 The Finnish Defense Forces Center of Military Medicine and the Finnish Society of Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine (Suomen sukellus-ja ylipainelaaketieteellinen yhdistys ry) have both given financial support for breathing gas and other expenses at the data gathering phase of the study. Piispanen , W W , Lundell , R V , Tuominen , L J & Räisänen-Sokolowski , A K 2021 , ' Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions ' , Frontiers in Physiology , vol. 12 , 722915 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.722915 eb6e178d-5d00-42cf-af24-b3721324838f http://hdl.handle.net/10138/335044 000687960600001 |
op_rights |
cc_by openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
container_title |
Frontiers in Physiology |
container_volume |
12 |
_version_ |
1787421535712051200 |