Cognitive Deficits and White Matter Alterations in Highly Trained Scuba Divers
Nitrogen gas (N2), present in the normal atmospheric air, is a potential source of risk for scuba divers. It seems probable that myelin can represent, in hyperbaric conditions, a preferential site for the accumulation of N2 in central nervous system (CNS). The purpose of this study is to verify whet...
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doaj-6dbb9faa7a364fcb9784ecd854c37bd72020-11-25T02:01:43ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782019-10-011010.3389/fpsyg.2019.02376487556Cognitive Deficits and White Matter Alterations in Highly Trained Scuba DiversMarinella Coco0Andrea Buscemi1Valentina Perciavalle2Tiziana Maci3Gianluca Galvano4Antonio M. F. Scavone5Vincenzo Perciavalle6Donatella Di Corrado7Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, ItalyStudy Center of Italian Osteopathy, Horus Social Cooperative, Catania-Ragusa, ItalyDepartment of Educational Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, ItalyIndependent Researcher, Catania, ItalyU.O.C. Diagnostic Imaging, Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Garibaldi Hospital, Catania, ItalyU.O.C. Diagnostic Imaging, Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Garibaldi Hospital, Catania, ItalyFaculty of Human and Society Sciences, Kore University of Enna, Enna, ItalyFaculty of Human and Society Sciences, Kore University of Enna, Enna, ItalyNitrogen gas (N2), present in the normal atmospheric air, is a potential source of risk for scuba divers. It seems probable that myelin can represent, in hyperbaric conditions, a preferential site for the accumulation of N2 in central nervous system (CNS). The purpose of this study is to verify whether the practice of the scuba diving is capable to determine a damage of the brain white matter (WM) in a dose dependent manner and, consequently, possible deficiency of their cognitive abilities. For this purpose, 54 professional scuba divers (35 men and 19 women), with at least 2,000 dives in their careers, were studied. Possible alterations of brain WM were evaluated in terms of Fractional anisotropy (FA) by using Diffusion Tensor Imaging, whereas possible cognitive impairments were verified by means of neuropsychological testing, by studying: (1) General mental capability (2) Executive functioning; (3) Visuospatial construction such as Rey Complex Figure; (4) Attention and orientation: (5) Selective attention capacity and processing speed ability; (6) Memory. The results showed alteration of the WM in terms of changes in FA; these alterations, statistically significant but quantitatively quite modest, were mainly observed in the WM of the anterior part of the brain, whereas no differences were observed between left and right hemisphere. The alterations of the WM were associated with changes, also in this case statistically significant but quantitatively quite modest, of the cognitive functions, in particular of those dependent on the prefrontal cortex, such as attention and memory function. The present study leads to the conclusion that repeated dives, even performed in compliance with the current decompression tables, can progressively lead in the CNS to the formation of micro-lesions in the myelin sheet capable of altering the functioning of the neuron.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02376/fullscuba divingwhite matterFractional anisotropyneuropsychological testingsport |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Marinella Coco Andrea Buscemi Valentina Perciavalle Tiziana Maci Gianluca Galvano Antonio M. F. Scavone Vincenzo Perciavalle Donatella Di Corrado |
spellingShingle |
Marinella Coco Andrea Buscemi Valentina Perciavalle Tiziana Maci Gianluca Galvano Antonio M. F. Scavone Vincenzo Perciavalle Donatella Di Corrado Cognitive Deficits and White Matter Alterations in Highly Trained Scuba Divers Frontiers in Psychology scuba diving white matter Fractional anisotropy neuropsychological testing sport |
author_facet |
Marinella Coco Andrea Buscemi Valentina Perciavalle Tiziana Maci Gianluca Galvano Antonio M. F. Scavone Vincenzo Perciavalle Donatella Di Corrado |
author_sort |
Marinella Coco |
title |
Cognitive Deficits and White Matter Alterations in Highly Trained Scuba Divers |
title_short |
Cognitive Deficits and White Matter Alterations in Highly Trained Scuba Divers |
title_full |
Cognitive Deficits and White Matter Alterations in Highly Trained Scuba Divers |
title_fullStr |
Cognitive Deficits and White Matter Alterations in Highly Trained Scuba Divers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cognitive Deficits and White Matter Alterations in Highly Trained Scuba Divers |
title_sort |
cognitive deficits and white matter alterations in highly trained scuba divers |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Psychology |
issn |
1664-1078 |
publishDate |
2019-10-01 |
description |
Nitrogen gas (N2), present in the normal atmospheric air, is a potential source of risk for scuba divers. It seems probable that myelin can represent, in hyperbaric conditions, a preferential site for the accumulation of N2 in central nervous system (CNS). The purpose of this study is to verify whether the practice of the scuba diving is capable to determine a damage of the brain white matter (WM) in a dose dependent manner and, consequently, possible deficiency of their cognitive abilities. For this purpose, 54 professional scuba divers (35 men and 19 women), with at least 2,000 dives in their careers, were studied. Possible alterations of brain WM were evaluated in terms of Fractional anisotropy (FA) by using Diffusion Tensor Imaging, whereas possible cognitive impairments were verified by means of neuropsychological testing, by studying: (1) General mental capability (2) Executive functioning; (3) Visuospatial construction such as Rey Complex Figure; (4) Attention and orientation: (5) Selective attention capacity and processing speed ability; (6) Memory. The results showed alteration of the WM in terms of changes in FA; these alterations, statistically significant but quantitatively quite modest, were mainly observed in the WM of the anterior part of the brain, whereas no differences were observed between left and right hemisphere. The alterations of the WM were associated with changes, also in this case statistically significant but quantitatively quite modest, of the cognitive functions, in particular of those dependent on the prefrontal cortex, such as attention and memory function. The present study leads to the conclusion that repeated dives, even performed in compliance with the current decompression tables, can progressively lead in the CNS to the formation of micro-lesions in the myelin sheet capable of altering the functioning of the neuron. |
topic |
scuba diving white matter Fractional anisotropy neuropsychological testing sport |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02376/full |
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