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Development of aptitude at altitude

Development of aptitude at altitude
Development of aptitude at altitude
Millions of people currently live at altitudes in excess of 2500 metres, where oxygen supply is limited, but very little is known about the development of brain and behavioural function under such hypoxic conditions. We describe the physiological, cognitive and behavioural profile of a large cohort of infants (6-12?months), children (6-10?years) and adolescents (13-16?years) who were born and are living at three altitude locations in Bolivia (?500?m, ?2500?m and ?3700?m). Level of haemoglobin oxygen saturation and end-tidal carbon dioxide were significantly lower in all age groups living above 2500?metres, confirming the presence of hypoxia and hypocapnia, but without any detectable detriment to health. Infant measures of neurodevelopment and behaviour yielded comparable results across altitude groups.

Neuropsychological assessment in children and adolescent groups indicated a minor reduction in psychomotor speed with increasing altitude, with no effect of age. This may result from slowing of underlying brain activity in parallel with reduced cerebral metabolism and blood flow, evidenced here by reduced cerebral blood flow velocity, particularly in the basilar artery, in children and adolescents.

The proportion of European, Native American and African genetic admixture was comparable across altitude groups, suggesting that adaptation to high altitude in these children occurred in response to chronic hypoxic exposure irrespective of ethnic origin. Thus, psychomotor slowing is proposed to be an adaptive rather than a deficient trait, perhaps enabling accuracy of mental activity in hypoxic conditions.
533-544
Hogan, Alexandra M.
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Virues-Ortega, Javier
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Baya Botti, Ana Baya
bd458886-ec02-479b-8315-35bc12d97ae3
Bucks, Romola
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Holloway, John
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Rose-Zerilli, Matthew J.
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Palmer, Lyle J.
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Webster, Rebecca J.
9157996d-f261-492b-9864-025cecaf5fc2
Baldeweg, Torsten
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Kirkham, Fenella J.
1dfbc0d5-aebe-4439-9fb2-dac6503bcd58
Hogan, Alexandra M.
95ce4e2d-0f63-4ada-b43f-8f3a0c3b4a21
Virues-Ortega, Javier
a793c487-ea95-40fa-887a-2f45a27c7694
Baya Botti, Ana Baya
bd458886-ec02-479b-8315-35bc12d97ae3
Bucks, Romola
aee41f56-d77c-44a1-a310-cc885edf149a
Holloway, John
4bbd77e6-c095-445d-a36b-a50a72f6fe1a
Rose-Zerilli, Matthew J.
c124752b-ab90-4650-b2d7-45c57d04395f
Palmer, Lyle J.
089fb1c1-12e1-4ece-9bfa-7b404cee4772
Webster, Rebecca J.
9157996d-f261-492b-9864-025cecaf5fc2
Baldeweg, Torsten
e6ba710f-1634-48fe-84b9-84141cc2ad54
Kirkham, Fenella J.
1dfbc0d5-aebe-4439-9fb2-dac6503bcd58

Hogan, Alexandra M., Virues-Ortega, Javier, Baya Botti, Ana Baya, Bucks, Romola, Holloway, John, Rose-Zerilli, Matthew J., Palmer, Lyle J., Webster, Rebecca J., Baldeweg, Torsten and Kirkham, Fenella J. (2010) Development of aptitude at altitude. Developmental Science, 13 (3), 533-544. (doi:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00909.x).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Millions of people currently live at altitudes in excess of 2500 metres, where oxygen supply is limited, but very little is known about the development of brain and behavioural function under such hypoxic conditions. We describe the physiological, cognitive and behavioural profile of a large cohort of infants (6-12?months), children (6-10?years) and adolescents (13-16?years) who were born and are living at three altitude locations in Bolivia (?500?m, ?2500?m and ?3700?m). Level of haemoglobin oxygen saturation and end-tidal carbon dioxide were significantly lower in all age groups living above 2500?metres, confirming the presence of hypoxia and hypocapnia, but without any detectable detriment to health. Infant measures of neurodevelopment and behaviour yielded comparable results across altitude groups.

Neuropsychological assessment in children and adolescent groups indicated a minor reduction in psychomotor speed with increasing altitude, with no effect of age. This may result from slowing of underlying brain activity in parallel with reduced cerebral metabolism and blood flow, evidenced here by reduced cerebral blood flow velocity, particularly in the basilar artery, in children and adolescents.

The proportion of European, Native American and African genetic admixture was comparable across altitude groups, suggesting that adaptation to high altitude in these children occurred in response to chronic hypoxic exposure irrespective of ethnic origin. Thus, psychomotor slowing is proposed to be an adaptive rather than a deficient trait, perhaps enabling accuracy of mental activity in hypoxic conditions.

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Published date: May 2010
Organisations: Medicine

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 149043
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/149043
PURE UUID: 1ee5c8fe-ec8a-4376-b353-5b2d96fcf2a9
ORCID for John Holloway: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9998-0464
ORCID for Fenella J. Kirkham: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2443-7958

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Date deposited: 29 Apr 2010 14:22
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:45

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Contributors

Author: Alexandra M. Hogan
Author: Javier Virues-Ortega
Author: Ana Baya Baya Botti
Author: Romola Bucks
Author: John Holloway ORCID iD
Author: Matthew J. Rose-Zerilli
Author: Lyle J. Palmer
Author: Rebecca J. Webster
Author: Torsten Baldeweg

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