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Biomedical subjects

K Hofer

Publications and source records attributed to K Hofer.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Coriolis-induced cutaneous blood flow increase in the forearm and calf.

Using venous occlusion plethysmography, Sunahara et al. reported that Coriolis-induced nausea was accompanied by an increase in forearm blood flow, suggesting a decrease in sympathetic activity to this vascular bed. No significant blood pressure and heart rate changes were observed. Vasodilation of the limbs theoretically impairs orthostatic tolerance, particularly if blood flow is shown to increase simultaneously in the lower limbs. This study examined the latter possibility. Seventeen subjects were exposed to the Coriolis cross-coupling effects induced by 20 RPM yaw rotation, and a simultaneous 45 degrees pitch forward head movement in the sagittal plane every 12 s. Forearm and calf skin blood flow were monitored in real-time using laser Doppler flowmetry (PeriFlux 4001). Our results indicated a significant (p < 0.001) simultaneous forearm and calf skin blood flow increase as a result of Coriolis cross-coupling across all 15 susceptible subjects. No significant changes in blood pressure and heart rate were observed. Coriolis-induced cardiovascular changes may confound previous reports on reduced G tolerance using ground-based centrifuges that invariably evoke cross-coupling effects.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

The menstrual cycle and susceptibility to coriolis-induced sickness.

Survey studies on motion sickness susceptibility suggest that females tend to report greater severity in illness and higher incidence of vomiting than males. Menstruation is said to be a contributing factor. A recent study suggested that females were least susceptible to seasickness during ovulation in a "round the world" yacht race. Sixteen subjects (18-36 years old) were exposed to Coriolis cross-coupling stimulation in the laboratory. They were tested once during permenstruation (Day 1-5), ovulation (Day 12-15) and premenstruation (Day 24-28), based on a normalized 28-day cycle, in a randomised design. Physiological measurements of motion sickness included forearm and calf cutaneous blood flow. Subjective evaluation of sickness symptoms was based on Graybiel's diagnostic criteria and Golding's rating method. Our results indicated that under controlled laboratory conditions, different phases of the menstrual cycle appear to have no influence on subjective symptoms of motion sickness or on cutaneous blood flow increase in the forearm and calf. The lack of commonality between the types and levels of hormones that are released during motion sickness and those that are involved in different menstrual phases appears to support our findings.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

The exhaustive additivity displayed by nitrous oxide has implications for cognitive-energetical theory.

The cognitive-energetical approach, which relies on the discrete stage model of additive factors logic, asserts that basal energetical mechanisms such as arousal act via particular information processing stages. The anaesthetic gas nitrous oxide (N(2)O) produces additivity at four of the five perceptual and central stages, but its effect on the remaining stage, feature extraction, is unknown. We investigated this stage using 12 subjects who performed a visual oddball experiment in which two levels of stimulus quality, three levels of breathing mixture (air, 25% and N(2)O, 35%) and three levels of stimulus probability were combined factorially. Reaction time (RT) and P300 were collected simultaneously. The RT results showed additivity between N(2)O, stimulus quality and probability. P300 latency also showed additivity between N(2)O and stimulus quality. Since the discrete stage model cannot easily account for the exhaustive additivity displayed by N(2)O on perceptual and central stages, we performed a continuous cascade model simulation to determine whether it is better able to account for this phenomenon. We found that exhaustive additivity could be reproduced by adding a time delay to the activation rate of the first stage, which we interpreted as evidence that N(2)O causes slowing prior to stage processing. To account for these results, we propose a two-tiered energetical model in which a lower GABAergic reticular system (influenced by N(2)O) modulates the activity of upper 'arousal-like' multidimensional ascending thalamocortical systems. The applicability of this model to drugs such as the barbiturates, the benzodiazepines and ethanol, as well as the aging process, is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Underwater disorientation as induced by two helicopter ditching devices.

BACKGROUND: Spatial orientation is based on the integration of concordant and redundant information from the visual, vestibular, and somatosensory systems. When a person is submerged underwater, somatosensory cues are reduced, and vestibular cues are ambiguous with respect to upright or inverted position. Visual cues may be lost as a result of reduced ambient light. Underwater disorientation has been cited as one of the major factors that could inhibit emergency egress after a helicopter ditching into water. One countermeasure to familiarize aircrew with underwater disorientation is emergency egress training. This study examined the relative degree of underwater disorientation induced by the Modular Egress Training Simulator (METS) and the Shallow Water Egress Trainer (SWET). METHODS: There were 36 healthy subjects (28 males and 8 females) who participated in the study. Underwater disorientation was quantified by measuring the deviation of subjective vertical-pointing from the gravitational vertical, time to egress, and subjective reports of disorientation and ease of egress. A repeated measure design was employed with seat position (SWET chair, METS window, and METS aisle) as the sole factor. RESULTS: Subjective response data indicated that the degree of disorientation is rated significantly higher, and the ease of egress is rated worse from the two METS seat positions than from the SWET. This is supported by the findings that subjective vertical-pointing accuracy is worse in the METS seat positions than in the SWET (p < 0.01). The time to egress is longer from the two METS seat positions than from SWET (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the METS device is effective for inducing underwater disorientation as provoked by simulated helicopter ditching. disorientation, vestibular, subjective pointing.

Accidents, Aviation↗
PubMed1999

Degradation of visual pursuit during sustained +3 Gz acceleration.

BACKGROUND: During positive acceleration, there is a diminished flow of blood to all regions above the heart. This is manifested by the commonly described loss of peripheral vision, greyout and blackout, which have been investigated extensively. The ability to select appropriate scanning patterns and to efficiently process visual information is one of the important determinants of scan effectiveness. This study investigates the performance of the smooth pursuit system under sustained +3 Gz before any signs of loss of vision. METHODS: Eleven subjects with no known oculomotor and vestibular anomalies participated in the study. Horizontal and vertical pursuit at amplitudes of 10 and 20 degrees were investigated in each of the subjects over 4 separate days. During each test session, pursuit targets of a predictable sine wave, oscillating at 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2 and 1.6 Hz were presented to the subjects in a random order. Horizontal and vertical eye movements were recorded using the El-Mar eye tracking system. The subjects were tested in 4 trials: 1) at 1 G before exposure to increased acceleration; 2) during sustained +3 Gz; 3) immediately after the +3 Gz exposure; and 4) 5 min after the +3 Gz exposure. RESULTS: Breakdown in smooth pursuit in response to horizontal and vertical sinusoidal stimuli during +3 Gz is indicated by a statistically significant decrease in gain and an increase in phase lag (p < 0.01). This is most obvious when the stimulus frequency is greater than 0.4 Hz. Qualitatively, the pursuit response during acceleration was ataxic and disorganized in appearance. CONCLUSION: It is postulated that degradation of pursuit gain and phase could be due to central hypoxia, and that the increase of G loading on the vestibular system could affect the neural integration of the pursuit signal in the vestibular nuclei with its direct output to the oculomotor system.

Acceleration↗
PubMed1999

The effects of roll vs. pitch rotation in humans under orthostatic stress.

BACKGROUND: It has been known since 1953 that pre-exposure to less than +1 Gz will reduce subsequent +Gz-tolerance. With few exceptions, during operational flying, the transition from hypogravity to hypergravity involves roll as well as pitch rotation. We examined the effect of roll vs. pitch rotation while undergoing transition from hypogravity to +1 Gz on a tilt table. METHODS: Twelve subjects (28-47 yr old) were rotated at 45 degrees x s(-1) from head-up (HU) at 15 degrees relative to gravitational vertical to 135 degrees head-down (HD) and back to the HU position after different HD dwell times. HD dwell times were set at 7, 15, and 30 s. The subject was rotated about the interaural axis (pitch) and about the naso-occipital axis (roll). Both the HD dwell times and axes of rotation were randomized within and across subjects. BP and heart rate were recorded during the HU-HD-HU maneuver. RESULTS: Analysis of variance, repeated measure design revealed that the rate and magnitude of BP decrease induced by the HD to HU maneuver is significantly higher (p < 0.01) in roll than in pitch during all HD dwell times. The decrease of BP at 7s is significantly (p < 0.01) higher than at 15s and 30s. Heart rate increases significantly higher (p < 0.01) in pitch than in roll at 7s-dwell time. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the compensatory mechanism to orthostatic stress is more efficient in response to pitch than roll rotation. This is reflected from the findings that the mean magnitude of OH (orthostatic hypotension) and the rate of BP decrease induced by the HD-HU maneuver is significantly greater in roll rotation than pitch rotation. The mean HR increase post HD-HU rotation is significantly higher in the pitch than the roll rotation. The significant rate of BP decrease during HD-HU roll rotation could have important implications for maintaining G-tolerance and spatial orientation during subsequent exposure to hypergravity.

Adaptation, Physiological↗