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A Single Bout of Intermittent Hypoxia Benefits Executive Function Independent of Cardiorespiratory Fitness

Poster Session A - Saturday, March 7, 3:00 – 5:00 pm, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballrooms

Antonio B. Mendes¹ (amende@uwo.ca), Nasimi A. Guluzade¹, Lila Gavigan¹, Daniel A. Keir¹, Matthew Heath¹; ¹Western University

Exposure to alternating intervals of breathing normoxic and hypoxic gas (intermittent hypoxia;IH) increases cerebral blood flow (CBF) and improves oxygen extraction, changes linked to transient post-intervention enhancements in executive function (EF). However, it remains unclear whether cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) influences the magnitude of a post-IH EF benefit. This is a salient question because individuals with higher CRF typically exhibit enhanced cerebrovascular reactivity and oxygen delivery – a distinction that may potentiate or mask the effects of IH on cortical oxygen extraction and EF performance. Here, healthy young adults (target N=36, current n=7) completed a gold-standard assessment of CRF (VO₂peak) and two randomized 60-minute interventions: (1) 12 alternating 5-min intervals of hypoxic (FiO₂=10%) and normoxic (FiO₂=20%) gas (IH-condition), and (2) continuous normoxic breathing (control). Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) measured cortical and cerebral hemodynamics, while EF was assessed at baseline (T0), immediately post (T1), and 30 minutes post (T2) via the antisaccade task. As expected, the IH condition elicited a 3% increase in CBF and a 16% increase in deoxygenated hemoglobin, with no such changes observed in the control condition. Notably, a significant Condition × Time interaction (p<.03) indicated reduced antisaccade reaction times (~4%) at T2 for IH but not control; however, the magnitude of improvement was unrelated to cortical hemodynamic changes or CRF. These preliminary findings suggest that a single bout of IH elicits a transient EF benefit independent of CBF and CRF, supporting its potential as an intervention to elicit a transient “boost” to EF.

Topic Area: EXECUTIVE PROCESSES: Monitoring & inhibitory control