Cognitive changes at high altitude in healthy climbers and in climbers developing acute mountain sickness.
We report the cognitive functions of 17 non-acclimatized mountaineers who ascended from low lands to an altitude of 4,559 m in 24 h and were studied there within 6 h. We found that this rapid ascent to high altitude had small, but differential effects upon cognitive performance depending upon the later development of acute mountain sickness (AMS). Subjects who developed AMS within a 24-48-h stay at high altitude were mildly impaired in short term memory, but improved in conceptual tasks, while subjects who remained healthy had a better short term memory performance but no improvement in cognitive flexibility. Possible explanations for these unexpected effects of high altitude are discussed.
Regard
M
M
University Hospital, Department of Neurology, Zurich, Switzerland.
Landis
T
T
Casey
J
J
Maggiorini
M
M
Bärtsch
P
P
Oelz
O
O
D000328:Adult; D000532:Altitude Sickness / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D001288:Attention; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D006801:Humans; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009051:Mountaineering; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards; D011654:Pulmonary Edema / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D011859:Radiography; D012008:Recurrence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires