Effect of Hyperventilation on Performance

¹ From the Department of Physiology-Biophysics, USAF School of Aviation Medicine, Randolph Air Force Base, Randolph Field, Texas

Hyperventilation was realized as a potential danger among jet pilots and as a possible cause of unexplainable aircraft incidents, or accidents. Experimental investigations, therefore, were instigated to correlate various degrees of hypocapnia with psychomotor behavior. Six healthy male individuals were tested on a SAM USAF Complex Coordination Apparatus before, during and after passively induced hyperventilation of 30-minutes duration. During the period of hyperventilation the alveolar CO₂ tension was lowered to 12–15 mm Hg. At an average PaCO₂ of 20–25 mm Hg psychomotor performance deteriorated to 85% of the pre- and post-hyperventilation controls and to approximately 70% at an average PaCO₂ of about 14 mm Hg. The symptoms of hypocapnia observed, except the development of tetany, were found to be almost identical with the commonly known symptoms of hypoxia.

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