Smith Max Kailler, Weller Rebecca, Duong Tony, McClintock Rebecca, Peterson Matthew, Barr Nathaniel, Jones Douglas M, Dunn Timothy L
Warfighter Performance Department, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA, United States.
Leidos Inc., San Diego, CA, United States.
Front Psychol. 2025 Feb 12;16:1512011. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1512011. eCollection 2025.
A primary hazard of working in cold maritime environments is the potential for a substantial man overboard situation in freezing waters. Sudden cold-water immersion (CWI) triggers the cold shock response (CSR), which consists of cardiorespiratory responses that increase the chance of drowning. If cold shock response severity can be mitigated, life-saving actions must be taken within the first 10 min, as after this time frame drowning occurs due to cold incapacitation. To date, research shows that executive functioning is generally impaired by intense, acute stress, which implies the ability to think through potential actions to maximize survival would also be impaired by the cold shock response.
To examine whether the severity of cold shock response impairs higher-level thinking in a group, 29 active duty service members completed a group format Divergent Association Task (DAT; 4-5 per group) prior to and during a 13-min cold-water immersion (water temperature: 1.3°C, air temperature: -2.7°C).
Results showed no relationship between cold shock response magnitude, indexed by peak heart rate, and DAT performance. However, results indicated that those with lower skin temperatures performed worse on the DAT.
Results suggest that the ability to engage in divergent thinking is relatively preserved in the critical ~10-min window although skin cooling may bias attention toward the cold stress impacting task performance. Furthermore, subjective reports of the severity of the initial gasp tracked with peak heart rate demonstrating potential utility of subjective responses in the absence of respiratory measurements.
在寒冷的海洋环境中工作的一个主要危险是，在冰冷的海水中可能会发生大量人员落水的情况。突然冷水浸泡（CWI）会引发冷休克反应（CSR），这种反应包括心肺反应，会增加溺水的几率。如果能减轻冷休克反应的严重程度，就必须在最初的10分钟内采取救生行动，因为超过这个时间段后，会因寒冷导致身体机能丧失而溺水。迄今为止的研究表明，执行功能通常会受到强烈急性应激的损害，这意味着通过思考潜在行动以最大化生存几率的能力也会因冷休克反应而受损。
为了研究冷休克反应的严重程度是否会损害一组人的高级思维能力，29名现役军人在13分钟的冷水浸泡（水温：1.3°C，气温：-2.7°C）之前和期间完成了分组形式的发散联想任务（DAT；每组4-5人）。
结果显示，以心率峰值为指标的冷休克反应强度与DAT表现之间没有关系。然而，结果表明，皮肤温度较低的人在DAT上的表现较差。
结果表明，在关键的约10分钟窗口内，发散性思维能力相对保持完好，尽管皮肤冷却可能会使注意力偏向影响任务表现的冷应激。此外，最初喘息严重程度的主观报告与心率峰值相关，这表明在没有呼吸测量的情况下，主观反应具有潜在用途。
