title: Psychological strain: examining the effect of hypoxic bedrest and confinement.
abstract: The aim was to assess the effect of a 10-day exposure to the environmental stressors anticipated in future lunar habitats on indices of psychological strain. In addition to the reduced gravity of the Moon, future habitats on the Moon will likely maintain a hypobaric hypoxic environment. The hypobaric environment will eliminate the need for long decompression profiles prior to each extra-vehicular activity. We investigated the indices of psychological strain during three 10-day conditions, designed to assess the separate and combined effects of inactivity/unloading and normobaric hypoxia on several physiological systems. Eleven male participants underwent three 10-day campaigns in a randomised manner: 1) normobaric normoxic bed rest (NBR), 2) normobaric hypoxic bed rest (HBR) and 3) normobaric hypoxic ambulatory confinement (HAMB). The most negative psychological profile appeared on day 10 of the HBR and HAMB (hypoxic) conditions. Concomitantly, a decrease in positive emotions was observed from baseline to day 10 of the HBR and NBR conditions. Thus, confinement in a hypoxic environment seems to exert a negative effect on an individual's psychological mood.
authors.affiliation: Exercise and Sport Science Department, Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, Doha, Qatar; Faculty of Physical Education & Sport Science, University of Athens, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: Nektarios.Stavrou@aspetar.com.
authors.forename: Nektarios A M
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Stavrou
authors.affiliation: Department of Automation, Biocybernetics and Robotics, Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia; International Postgraduate School Jozef Stefan, Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Adam C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: McDonnell
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Physiology, Swedish Aerospace Physiology Centre, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ola
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Eiken
authors.affiliation: Department of Automation, Biocybernetics and Robotics, Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Igor B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Mekjavic
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D000532:Altitude Sickness / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D062186:Arterial Pressure; D001510:Bed Rest / Q000523:psychology*; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D010108:Oxyhemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010108:Oxyhemoglobins
keywords: Bedrest; Hypoxia; Inactivity; Mood; Negative affect; Positive affect; Psychological strain