Effects of Acute Normobaric Hypoxia on Memory Interference

Paul D Loprinzi; Aala'a Matalgah; Lindsay Crawford; Jane J Yu; Zhaowei Kong; Bo Wang; Shijie Liu; Liye Zou

doi:10.3390/brainsci9110323

Effects of Acute Normobaric Hypoxia on Memory Interference

Brain Sci. 2019 Nov 14;9(11):323. doi: 10.3390/brainsci9110323.

Authors

Paul D Loprinzi¹, Aala'a Matalgah¹, Lindsay Crawford¹, Jane J Yu², Zhaowei Kong³, Bo Wang⁴, Shijie Liu⁵, Liye Zou⁵

Affiliations

¹ Exercise and Memory Laboratory, Department of Health, Exercise Science and Recreation Management, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA.
² Exercise Psychology and Motor Learning Laboratory, Department of Sports Science and Physical Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China.
³ Faculty of Education, University of Macau, Av. da Universidade, Taipa, Macau 999078, China.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100081, China.
⁵ Exercise and Mental Health Laboratory, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.

Abstract

Purpose: Previous research has evaluated the effects of acute hypoxia exposure on cognitive function, notably executive function. No studies, to date, have evaluated the effects of acute hypoxia exposure on memory interference, which was the purpose of this experiment.

Methods: A within-subjects, counterbalanced experimental design was employed, with condition (hypoxia vs. normoxia) and time (immediate vs. delayed) being the independent variables. Participants (N = 21; M_age = 21.0 years) completed two laboratory visits, involving 30 min of exposure to either hypoxia (FIO₂ = 0.12) or normoxia (FIO₂ = 0.21). Following this, they completed a memory interference task (AB/AC paradigm), assessing immediate and delayed proactive and retroactive interference.

Results: For retroactive interference, we observed a significant main effect for condition, F(1, 20) = 5.48, p = 0.03, ƞ² = 0.10, condition by time interaction, F(1, 20) = 4.96, p = 0.03, ƞ² = 0.01, but no main effect for time, F(1, 20) = 1.75, p = 0.20, ƞ² = 0.004.

Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that acute hypoxia exposure was facilitative in reducing memory interference. We discuss these findings in the context of the potential therapeutic effects of acute hypoxia exposure on synaptic plasticity.

Keywords: BDNF; cognition; hypoxia; neuroprotection; normoxia.