Individual typological features in the EEG of athletes after acute hypoxic treatment

Abstract

In athletes with different types of physical training and various temperaments, variability of the main rhythms of the EEG (α, β, and θ) and the parameters of the desynchronization response of the α-rhythm, the individual extent of the decrease in the power of the α-rhythm during eye opening under the conditions of hypoxia growing from 20.9 to 10% of O2 were studied. Twenty-four 18- to 26-year-old athletes, including 11 swimmers and 13 skiers, were involved in the study. We found that, in contrast to normoxia conditions, hypoxia was associated with the instability of the spectrum of the EEG rhythms and phasic changes during a 25-min hypoxia. The EEG response during hypoxia depended on individual typological features estimated using Strelau’s temperament questionnaire. Negative correlation between the psychological construct “endurance” measured using the FCB-TI questionnaire (Formal Characteristics of Behavior-Temperament Inventory) and the power of the EEG α-rhythm was found. The parameters of training and the features of the respiration pattern that appeared as a consequence of training modulated the sensitivity of brain structures to hypoxia, which was reflected in the changes in the EEG α-rhythm under hypoxia conditions.