Payne Jennifer, Cheung Stephen S
Environmental Ergonomics Laboratory, School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Aviat Space Environ Med. 2007 Jul;78(7):680-5.
Cold impairs cognitive performance and is a common occurrence in many survival situations. Altered behavior patterns due to impaired navigation abilities in cold environments are potential problems in lost-person situations. We investigated the separate effects of low core temperature and superficial cooling on a spatially demanding virtual navigation task.
There were 12 healthy men who were passively cooled via 15 degrees C water immersion to a core temperature of 36.0 degrees C, then transferred to a warm (40 degrees C) water bath to eliminate superficial shivering while completing a series of 20 virtual computer mazes. In a control condition, subjects rested in a thermoneutral (approximately 35 degrees C) bath for a time-matched period before being transferred to a warm bath for testing. Superficial cooling and distraction were achieved by whole-body immersion in 35 degree water for a time-matched period, followed by lower leg immersion in 10 degree C water for the duration of the navigational tests.
Mean completion time and mean error scores for the mazes were not significantly different (p > 0.05) across the core cooling (16.59 +/- 11.54 s, 0.91 +/- 1.86 errors), control (15.40 +/- 8.85 s, 0.82 +/- 1.76 errors), and superficial cooling (15.19 +/- 7.80 s, 0.77 +/- 1.40 errors) conditions.
Separately reducing core temperature or increasing cold sensation in the lower extremities did not influence performance on virtual computer mazes, suggesting that navigation is more resistive to cooling than other, simpler cognitive tasks. Further research is warranted to explore navigational ability at progressively lower core and skin temperatures, and in different populations.
寒冷会损害认知能力，并且在许多生存场景中都很常见。在寒冷环境中，由于导航能力受损而导致的行为模式改变是失踪人员情况下的潜在问题。我们研究了低核心体温和体表降温对一项空间要求较高的虚拟导航任务的单独影响。
12名健康男性通过15摄氏度的水浸被动降温至核心体温36.0摄氏度，然后转移到温暖（40摄氏度）的水浴中以消除体表颤抖，同时完成一系列20个虚拟计算机迷宫任务。在对照条件下，受试者在温度适中（约35摄氏度）的水浴中休息一段与实验时间匹配的时间，然后转移到温暖的水浴中进行测试。通过在35摄氏度的水中全身浸泡一段与实验时间匹配的时间来实现体表降温和分心，随后在导航测试期间将小腿浸入10摄氏度的水中。
在核心降温（16.59±11.54秒，0.91±1.86次错误）、对照（15.40±8.85秒，0.82±1.76次错误）和体表降温（15.19±7.80秒，0.77±1.40次错误）条件下，迷宫的平均完成时间和平均错误分数没有显著差异（p>0.05）。
单独降低核心体温或增加下肢的寒冷感不会影响虚拟计算机迷宫任务的表现，这表明与其他更简单的认知任务相比，导航对降温更具抵抗力。有必要进行进一步的研究，以探索在逐渐降低的核心体温和皮肤温度下以及在不同人群中的导航能力。
