Abstract
Hypoxia and confinement have both been shown to influence emotional state. It is envisaged that the inhabitants of future planetary habitats will be exposed to concomitant confinement, reduced gravity and hypoxia. We examined the independent and combined effects of a 21-day inactivity/unloading and normobaric hypoxia under confined conditions on various psychological factors. Eleven healthy men participated in three 21-day experimental campaigns designed in a cross-over manner: (1) Normobaric hypoxic ambulatory confinement, (2) Normobaric hypoxic bed rest and (3) Normobaric normoxic bed rest. The Profile of Mood States, and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule were employed to assess the participants' psychological responses before (Pre), during (Day 7, Day 14, and Day 21) and after (Post) the confinements. The most negative psychological profile appeared on days 14 and 21 of the hypoxic bed rest campaign. A significant increase in depression, tension, and confusion was noted on days 14 and 21 of the hypoxic bed rest condition. Concomitantly, a decrease, albeit not statistically significant, in positive psychological responses was observed. The psychological profile returned to the initial level at Post following all confinements. These data suggest that the combined effect of hypoxia and bed rest induced the most negative effects on an individual's mood. However, significant intra- and inter-individual differences in psychological responses were noted and should be taken into consideration.
Highlights
Research in aid of human Space exploration has to date focused primarily on the microgravity-induced consequences of relative inactivity and unloading of the weight-bearing limbs, on integrative physiological responses
As expected, during both hypoxic confinements (HAMB, hypoxic BR (HBR)) SpO2 was significantly reduced (p < 0.001) compared to PRE values and values observed during normoxic BR (NBR)
Systolic and diastolic arterial pressures (AP) values were significantly higher during the hypoxic ambulation (HAMB) and HBR compared to the NBR campaign (p < 0.01)
Summary
Research in aid of human Space exploration has to date focused primarily on the microgravity-induced consequences of relative inactivity and unloading of the weight-bearing limbs, on integrative physiological responses. While the BR studies to-date have focused extensively on investigating the effect of unloading/inactivity on Effect of Hypoxic Inactivity and Emotional State physiological systems (Pavy-Le Traon et al, 2007), the analyses of the effects on psychological and emotional responses have been limited (Ishizaki et al, 2002; Liu et al, 2012). Both reduced gravity (Kanas et al, 2009) and unloading (Lipnicki and Gunga, 2009) have been shown to importantly modulate individuals’ psychological responses. Similar to inactivity/unloading, hypoxia has been shown to influence psychological status (Hornbein et al, 1989; Virués-Ortega et al, 2004), understanding the independent and combined effects of these factors on psychological indices is crucial for the success and safety of future space exploration
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