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Effects of acute exposures to carbon dioxide on decision making and cognition in astronaut-like subjects

Robert R. Scully, Mathias Basner, Jad Nasrini

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Chiu-wing Lam, Emanuel Hermosillo, Ruben C. Gur, Tyler Moore, David J. Alexander, Usha Satish, Valerie E. Ryder

2019 · npj Microgravity

PsychologyNeuroscience
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From the abstract

Abstract Acute exposure to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations below those found on the International Space Station are reported to deteriorate complex decision-making. Effective decision-making is critical to human spaceflight, especially during an emergency response. Therefore, effects of acutely elevated CO 2 on decision-making competency and various cognitive domains were assessed in astronaut-like subjects by the Strategic Management Simulation (SMS) and Cognition test batteries. The double-blind cross-over study included 22 participants at the Johnson Space Center randomly assigned to one of four groups. Each group was exposed to a different sequence of four concentrations of CO 2 (600, 1200, 2500, 5000 ppm). Subjects performed Cognition before entering the chamber, 15 min and 2.5 h after entering the chamber, and 15 min after exiting the chamber. The SMS was administered 30 min after subjects entered the chamber. There were no clear dose–response patterns for performance on either SMS or Cognition . Performance on most SMS measures and aggregate speed, accuracy, and efficiency scores across Cognition tests were lower at 1200 ppm than at baseline (600 ppm); however, at higher CO 2 concentrations performance was similar to or exceeded baseline for most measures. These outcomes, which conflict with those of other studies, likely indicate differing characteristics of the various subject populations and differences in the aggregation of unrecognized stressors, in addition to CO 2 , are responsible for disparate outcomes among studies. Studies with longer exposure durations are needed to verify that cognitive impairment does not develop over time in crew-like subjects.

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Original HN comments, with labels from simple text rules. A label describes the whole comment and may miss context or irony. Read the discussion to make up your own mind. About the labels

5 selected excerpts · 5 total mentions

sergioisidoro
Neutral mention · rule
See, they are debatable after all - we are debating them. There is data, there are some correlations that are statistically significant, and some raise even more questions — like why performance lowers at 1200ppm, but goes back up at higher concentrations in this article published on Nature in a very controlled environment - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41526-019-0071-6 I don't think this topic distracts from anything. I live in Finland, where indoor air quality is a big topic (mycotoxins and spores due to mold in old houses, burning wood in residential areas due to particulate emissions on cold days, construction codes, etc), while the country is making strides to…
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become carbon neutral, and has one of the lowest economical inequality in the world. But anyway, as I mentioned in the initial comment, the high CO2 just raised my attention to the bad ventilation of the house, and that includes ventilation of particulates from activities like cooking.
Original comment First clean water, now clean air
thamer
Neutral mention · rule
Covid aside, a reading of almost 6000 ppm in the bus is extremely high, at this level there is a clear impact on cognitive function. See this study[1] in Nature that measured the effects of CO2 at 1000, 3000, and 5000 PPM. Quote: "For the Psychomotor Vigilance Test, the probability of achieving an accuracy score of >90% decreased in a dose–response like fashion from 79.5%, 74.7%, 73.4%, to 64.0% for 600, 1200, 2400, and 5000 ppm, respectively". Another study[2] tried to establish the effect on response time, finding that "For every 500ppm increase, we saw response times 1.4-1.8% slower, and 2.1-2.4% lower throughput." For a more pop-sci take on this, see this Tom Scott…
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video where a subject is placed inside of an airtight chamber where the CO2 gradually increases, with a major impact on their brain function: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Nh_vxpycEA [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41526-019-0071-6 [2] https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac1bd8
Original comment Whose breath are you breathing?
goodpoint
Neutral mention · rule
You are throwing around the word "stimulating" in a very misleading way. If don't have good circulation in your home your respiration rate is going up by an unnoticeable amount. The idea that this prevents "relaxation" is absurd. Equally absurd to claim "presents a new area of concern for authorities who like to keep control of a population". If anything it's the very opposite, where *high* levels of CO2 *decrease* attention and causes drowsiness. - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41526-019-0071-6 - Karnauskas, K. B., et al. (2020) Fossil fuel combustion is driving indoor CO2 toward levels harmful to human cognition. GeoHealth. doi.org/10.1029/2019GH000237. - https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200421090556.h...
Original comment How to build homes with virtually no heating (2020)
audunw
Neutral mention · rule
> Please consider reading the article, then moderating the comment. If you don't want a knee-jerk reaction, don't share articles from a site that's widely known to be rather one-sided and biased, and with a super divisive tone to it. Your wording also makes has a rather biased tone to it "It's hard to believe Navy didn't study ..." Here's a very recent study with some interesting comments: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41526-019-0071-6.pdf?proof=... "It may be that astronaut-like operations personnel and submariners, who are high-level performers, are more likely to have heightened situational awareness because of their stringent training. Therefore, these groups may…
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develop faster adaptive patterns of responses and be more perceptive of their cognitive decline, and therefore may compensate more efficiently for self-perceived drops in performance than subjects drawn from the general population. Such distinctions could explain the differences in outcomes between college students and submariners to elevated CO" Seems reasonable that CO2 might have a different effect when motivation is also a huge factor. If you're in a submarine, feeling a bit tired is not an excuse. But in an office setting, it could be what pushes you over the edge to drift away mentally and maybe start procrastinating. In a school setting, motivating students is already a huge uphill battle. But sure, only the studies the navy did matter, and we should not discuss science in nuanced terms. It's all just the scary researches trying to make CO2 look like a boogey-man! That said, I think the headline in this post is a bit sensationalist. Seems doubtful that the effects will be that high. But there it is plausible that global CO2 rise could lead to some cognitive decline. Especially if you combine with the trend of packing more people into the same office space.
Original comment Indoor CO2 could cut our capacity for complex, strategic thinking: study

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