Summary
The effects of hypoxia on performance of altitude-acclimatized and non-acclimatized rats were tested in three experiments. The first experiment tested acclimatized and non-acclimatized animals in either 20% O2, 10% O2 or 5% O2 atmospheres in (1) an open field, (2) a Lashley III water maze, and (3) a discrimination apparatus. The second experiment compared acclimatized and non-acclimatized rats in the performance of an already learned task (the water maze) in either 20% O2 or 5% O2 atmospheres. The third experiment tested the performance of non-acclimatized animals in a 5% O2 atmosphere on an overlearned task in the water maze.
There was severe disruption of performance of non-acclimatized rats in severe (5% O2) hypoxia. This disruption occurred during learning of the tasks and during performance of already-learned and unlearned tasks. The acclimatized animals showed no such disruption in 5% 2; in fact they performed as well as did the group in the 20% O2 atmosphere.
The results were analyzed in terms of behavioral fixation as a result of intense drive.
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This study was supported by the U. S. Army Research and Development Command, Department of the Army, Under Research Contract DA-49-193-MD-2371.
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Vacher, J.M., Miller, A.T. Altitude-acclimatization: Its effect on hypoxia-induced performance decrements. Psychopharmacologia 12, 250–257 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00403779
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00403779