Effects of high concentration oxygen administration onn-back task performance and physiological signals

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of 40% oxygen administration on n-back task performance, blood oxygen saturation and heart rate. Five male (25.8 +/- 1.3 years) and five female (23.0 +/- 1.0 years) college students were selected as the subjects for this study. The experiment consisted of two runs: one was an n-back task with normal air (21% oxygen) administered and the other was with hyperoxic air (40% oxygen) administered. The experimental sequence in each run consisted of Rest1 (1 min), 0-back task (1 min), 2-back task (2 min) and Rest2 (4 min). Blood oxygen saturation and heart rate were measured throughout the four phases. The results of the n-back behavioural analysis reveal that accuracy rates were enhanced with 40% oxygen administration compared to 21% oxygen. When 40% oxygen was supplied, blood oxygen saturation was increased and heart rate was decreased compared to that with 21% oxygen administration. It is suggested that 40% oxygen can stimulate brain activation by increasing actual blood oxygen concentration in the process of cognitive performance, and hyperoxia makes heart rate decrease. This result supports the hypothesis that 40% oxygen administration would lead to increases in n-back task performance.

Response time of visual matching task and heart rate in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

“…Previous studies reported that HR during the cognitive task phases increased over the rest phase [4,[6][7][8][9]19,20]. This study also showed that HR increased in the visual matching task phase over the rest phase.…”

“…In order to metabolize the fuel, the brain needs more oxygen [13]. Therefore, oxygen demand increases during cognitive processing period and this induces an increase in HR [4,[6][7][8][9]19,20].…”

“…Many studies were performed using various verification methods to describe the effect of highly concentrated oxygen on the cognitive performance of normal healthy people [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Highly concentrated oxygen was found to enhance cognitive ability, including visuospatial [7,10], memory [9,[12][13]15], verbal [4], n-back tasks [6], and addition [8].…”

“…Highly concentrated oxygen was found to enhance cognitive ability, including visuospatial [7,10], memory [9,[12][13]15], verbal [4], n-back tasks [6], and addition [8]. External oxygen administration improved cognitive performance by decreasing response time [9][10][12][13][14][15] and/or increasing the percentage of correct answers [4,[6][7][8][9][10][12][13]. Many studies also have been undertaken to support the effects of highly concentrated oxygen on cognitive performance of healthy young adults.…”

A Broad View of Education and Teaching Based in Educational Neuroscience

“…The consideration of both inward and outward information flow is a common strategy, however, in some areas of science, for example, in ecology, where organisms are considered in terms of environmental inputs and outputs, and neuroscience, where information transfer into and out of neuronal synapses is integral to studies of information flow. Studies based in integrative biology lend support to a contention that there is a significant effect on learning due to input and output information flow of even simple, but often overlooked, environmental factors, such as water, oxygen and glucose [33,34]. It follows, therefore, that learning principles derived from a broader sense of information flow may apply to teaching and instructional design in relation to organisation of environmental input and outputs.…”