2026/07/10 by Giorgio Varesco, Nicolas Bourrel, François Bieuzen +1 · 1 voice
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Medicine · #Cardiovascular and exercise physiology #High Altitude and Hypoxia #Sports Performance and Training
paper · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0353673
openalex publication_date 2026/07/10 · openalex created_date 2026/07/11 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/27
PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate whether short (~15 min) cognitive protocols can detect fatigability in normoxia versus normobaric hypoxia in elite youth athletes, using tasks directly transferable to the field. METHODS: Elite youth mogul skiers (18 ± 2 y) completed two studies. In Study I, 17 athletes (7 women) performed a cognitive test after a repeated tuck-jump protocol designed to mimic mid-training physical demands under two conditions in fixed order: sham normoxia (simulated 200 m) and normobaric hypoxia (3500 m, blood saturation ~88%). In Study II, 16 athletes (6 women) performed the same cognitive test without the jump task, with conditions randomized. In both studies, response time and accuracy during a 10-min color Multisource Interference Task (cMSIT) were used to assess cognitive performance, and a 3-min Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) was administered before and after the cMSIT to quantify fatigability. Cognitive tests were performed on portable tablet devices. RESULTS: After adjusting for baseline cognitive performance, cMSIT response time was greater in hypoxia than in normoxia in both Study I (10 ± 2%, p = 0.004) and Study II (4 ± 1%, p < 0.001). Accuracy remained high and similar across conditions in both studies (Study I: 96 ± 3%; Study II: 96 ± 0.5%; p > 0.09). In Study I, PVT response time increased only in hypoxia, from 363 ± 74 ms to 375 ± 89 ms (p = 0.021), and lapses increased from 1 ± 0.5 to 3 ± 2.5 (p < 0.001), whereas lapses remained unchanged in normoxia and in Study II (p > 0.82). In Study I, jump task performance showed a condition×set interaction (p = 0.048), with lower performance in the third set in hypoxia (19806 ± 2464 N·s) than in normoxia (20130 ± 3016 N·s; p = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: In elite youth athletes, hypoxemia reduces cognitive performance and could lead to increased fatigability. Importantly, hypoxia-related impairments are detectable with short portable cognitive assessments, which are promising tools for field monitoring, particularly when tasks combines cognitive and physical demands.