Thomas J R, Ahlers S T, House J F, Schrot J
Environmental Medicine Department, Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, MD.
Aviat Space Environ Med. 1989 Nov;60(11):1063-7.
To study effects of moderate cold (5 degrees C) on complex cognitive performance, subjects were exposed to cold while responding on a conditional discrimination task. The task required a correct choice of which of two simultaneously presented matrices matched a previously presented sample matrix. The effects of task performance in cold and ambient temperatures was examined on three repeated occasions, one pair of conditions per week. Responses accuracy was consistently impaired in each cold session. In addition, choice response latencies lengthened and sample response latencies decreased in all cold exposures. The data show that even moderate cold exposure that does not produce core hypothermia can impair performance of a complex cognitive task and that the magnitude of performance change is not attenuated by a brief series of cold exposures.
为研究中度寒冷（5摄氏度）对复杂认知表现的影响，让受试者在执行条件辨别任务时暴露于寒冷环境中。该任务要求正确选择两个同时呈现的矩阵中哪一个与先前呈现的样本矩阵相匹配。在三个重复的时间段内检查了寒冷和环境温度下任务表现的影响，每周一对条件。每次寒冷时段的反应准确性均持续受损。此外，在所有寒冷暴露中，选择反应潜伏期延长，样本反应潜伏期缩短。数据表明，即使是不会导致核心体温过低的中度寒冷暴露也会损害复杂认知任务的表现，并且短暂的一系列寒冷暴露并不会减弱表现变化的程度。
