Cardiorespiratory response to hypoxia in persons with different levels of creativity

Abstract

The correlation between the parameters of creativity and tolerance to experimentally induced normobaric hypoxia has been studied in young healthy subjects. The subjects inhaled a low-oxygen gas mixture (10% O2) until the arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation (SaO2) decreased to 80%. In the recovery period, the subjects breathed normoxic air until the SaO2 returned to its initial value. The parameters of creativity, including the originality and fluency of producing images in Torrance’s subtests of Circles and Incomplete figures, as well as the originality and fluency of sentences composed by using nouns from distant semantic categories, were evaluated before conducting hypoxic tests. Positive relationships were found between the values of figurative originality and tolerance to hypoxia, i.e., by the time of decrease in SaO2 and the coefficient that reflects the rate of recovery of the respiratory function. Analysis of the reactivity of the cardiovascular system showed negative correlations between the parameters of creativity, namely, the figurative originality and verbal fluency, and the heart rate under the conditions of hypoxia, as well as after the recovery of the functions of the cardiorespiratory system. An increase in the capacity for original figurative thinking also corresponded to smaller differences in the values of the heart rate during the recovery and at rest. These correlations between the characteristics of creative thinking and reactions of the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems to experimentally induced hypoxia indicate that there is a common mechanism of nervous regulation underlying adaptive behavior and maintaining homeostasis.