A1 Journal article (refereed)
Effects of skin and mild core cooling on cognitive function in cold air in men (2023)

Wallace, P. J., Gagnon, D. D., Hartley, G. L., Taber, M. J., & Cheung, S. S. (2023). Effects of skin and mild core cooling on cognitive function in cold air in men. Physiological Reports, 11(24), Article e15893. https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.15893

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Wallace, Phillip J.; Gagnon, Dominique D.; Hartley, Geoffrey L.; Taber, Michael J.; Cheung, Stephen S.

Journal or series: Physiological Reports

eISSN: 2051-817X

Publication year: 2023

Publication date: 19/12/2023

Volume: 11

Issue number: 24

Article number: e15893

Publisher: Wiley

Publication country: United States

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.15893

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/92536

Abstract

This study tested the effects of skin and core cooling on cognitive function in 0°C cold air. Ten males completed a randomized, repeated measures study consisting of four environmental conditions: (i) 30 min of exposure to 22°C thermoneutral air (TN), (ii) 15 min to 0°C cold air which cooled skin temperature to ~27°C (CS), (iii) 0°C cold air exposure causing mild core cooling of ∆-0.3°C from baseline (C-0.3°C) and (iv) 0°C cold air exposure causing mild core cooling of ∆-0.8°C from baseline (C-0.8°C). Cognitive function (reaction time [ms] and errors made [#]) were tested using a simple reaction test, a two–six item working memory capacity task, and vertical flanker task to assess executive function. There were no condition effects (all p > 0.05) for number of errors made on any task. There were no significant differences in reaction time relative to TN for the vertical flanker and item working memory capacity task. However, simple reaction time was slower in C-0.3°C (297 ± 33 ms) and C-0.8°C (296 ± 41 ms) compared to CS (267 ± 26 ms) but not TN (274 ± 38). Despite small changes in simple reaction time (~30 ms), executive function and working memory was maintained in 0°C cold air with up to ∆-0.8°C reduction in core temperature.

Keywords: temperature; cold; body temperature; cognition; cognitive processes; working memory

Free keywords: cognition; cold stress; core cooling; executive attention; skin cooling

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2023

JUFO rating: 1