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Long-term high-altitude exposure influences task-related representations in visual working memory
Xiaohua Bao1, Delong Zhang2,3, Xiaoyan Li4
1Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China.
Frontiers in Neurology
|June 5, 2023
Summary
High altitude exposure impacts visual working memory capacity. Individuals living at high altitudes show altered attentional resource allocation, capturing more task-irrelevant information compared to low-altitude dwellers.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Environmental Psychology
Background:
- Human working memory is known to be impaired at high altitudes.
- The specific effects on visual working memory capacity remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate changes in visual working memory capacity in individuals exposed to high altitudes.
- To compare visual working memory performance between high-altitude (HA) and low-altitude (LA) residents.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a lateralized change detection task and event-related potentials (ERPs).
- Measured contralateral delay activity (CDA) in 35 HA students (Tibet) and 36 LA students (sea level) under varying memory loads.
Main Results:
- Both groups reached working memory asymptote at load four.
- The LA group exhibited significantly larger contralateral activity than the HA group at memory loads one and three.
- The HA group showed greater ipsilateral activity than contralateral activity across all memory loads.
Conclusions:
- Long-term high-altitude exposure may lead to attentional resources being captured by irrelevant information.
- Impaired inhibitory control in HA individuals could hinder the exclusion of distracting stimuli.
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