BIOFEEDBACK CORRECTION FOR OPTIMIZATION OF FUNCTIONAL STATE OF HUMAN ORGANISM DURING HIGH-ALTITUDE CLIMBING

Abstract

The aim of the work was the approbation of a method for correcting the functional state of participants in a high-altitude expedition using biofeedback (BF) technologies. Methods. A study of the dynamics of heart rate (HR) variability during the sessions of biofeedback training in the highlands (F. F. Konyuhov Everest expedition) was carried out. The sessions were held before the mountain climbing (session 1) and during the acclimatization at 6 400 m (session 2) and 5 300 m (session 3) above sea level. Two climbers close in age, physique and athletic skills participated in the experiment. Each session of BF training included several computer game trials. The purpose of trial was to decelerate the HR. The trial continued for 80-105 seconds. All sessions were held in the late evening between 22.00 and 24.00. Results. Both participants achieved effective the HR fall during all sessions of BF training and demonstrated certain dynamics of HR variability in each session. Based on the revealed dynamics we assumed that before climbing the HR fall was achieved by an increase in sympathetic activity (increase in LF/HF ratio) with a decrease in the overall level of autonomic activity (total power spectrum, TP). As BF training (with consolidation of a new skill) for the session 3 deceleration the HR in both participants was accompanied by an increase in the overall level of autonomic activity (TP) and a decrease in the stress index. The changes in autonomic balance sheet (the LF/HF ratio) during session 3 were oppositely directed. Conclusion. The data received suggest that the achievement of the final goal in the sessions of BF correction (deceleration of the HR) in two participants of the experiment was accompanied by shifts in the level of activity of autonomic regulation systems. In this case, the direction of the shifts depended on the stage of formation of the skill and was specific for each subject.