title: Mental abilities and performance efficacy under a simulated 480-m helium-oxygen saturation diving.
abstract: Stress in extreme environment severely disrupts human physiology and mental abilities. The present study investigated the cognition and performance efficacy of four divers during a simulated 480 meters helium-oxygen saturation diving. We analyzed the spatial memory, 2D/3D mental rotation functioning, grip strength, and hand-eye coordination ability in four divers during the 0-480 m compression and decompression processes of the simulated diving. The results showed that except for its mild decrease on grip strength, the high atmosphere pressure condition significantly impaired the hand-eye coordination (especially above 300 m), the reaction time and correct rate of mental rotation, as well as the spatial memory (especially as 410 m), showing high individual variability. We conclude that the human cognition and performance efficacy are significantly affected during deep water saturation diving.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Gonglin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Youlan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Naval Medicine Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Ruiyong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Naval Medicine Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Weibing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Naval Medicine Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Naval Medicine Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jiachun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Ti-Fei
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Yuan
keywords: cognition; grip strength; hand–eye coordination; helium–oxygen; mental rotation; saturation diving; spatial memory; stress