Background

Pilots often face and need to overcome a diverse range of unfavorable conditions, of which hypoxic exposure is the most common. Studies have reported that hypoxia can induce a decrease in cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the brains of both humans and animals. Hypoxia and the associated cerebral hemodynamic changes can contribute to cognitive performance deficits that may endanger flight safety and increase the risk of accidents.

Aim

In this study, we aimed to identify region-specific alterations in CBF in male pilots after exposure to hypoxia.

Material and methods

We used 3D pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling sequences in 35 healthy male pilots (mean age: 30.6 ± 4.82 years) under simulated hypoxic conditions with a 3.0-T magnetic resonance imaging scanner. The generated CBF maps were measured and averaged in several regions of interest.

Results

Hypoxia decreased CBF in various brain regions, including the right temporal and bilateral occipital lobes, the anterior and posterior lobes of the cerebellum, the culmen and declive, and the inferior semilunar lobule of the cerebellum.

Conclusion

These changes may impact the functional activity of the brains of pilots experiencing hypoxia in flight, but the related mechanisms require further investigation.

中文翻译：

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急性轻度缺氧对飞行员脑血流的影响。

背景

飞行员经常面对并且需要克服各种各样的不利条件，其中低氧暴露是最常见的。研究报告说，缺氧会导致人和动物的大脑中脑血流量（CBF）下降。缺氧和相关的脑血流动力学变化可导致认知能力下降，从而危害飞行安全并增加发生事故的风险。

目标

在这项研究中，我们旨在确定暴露于低氧状态的男性飞行员CBF的区域特异性变化。

材料与方法

我们使用3.0-T磁共振成像扫描仪在模拟的低氧条件下，对35名健康的男性飞行员（平均年龄：30.6±4.82岁）使用了3D伪连续动脉自旋标记序列。测量了生成的CBF图，并在几个感兴趣的区域取平均值。

结果

缺氧会降低各个大脑区域的CBF，包括右侧颞叶和双侧枕叶，小脑的前叶和后叶，小管和蜕皮以及小脑的下半月小叶。

结论

这些变化可能会影响飞行中发生缺氧的飞行员大脑的功能活动，但相关机制需要进一步研究。