Citation

Fowler B, Adams J. Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 1993; 64(6): 493-499.

Affiliation

Graduate Programme in Exercise and Health Science, York Centre for Health Studies, York University, Ontario, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, Aerospace Medical Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8338494

Abstract

Alcohol exacerbates and amphetamine ameliorates the slowing of reaction time (RT) produced by inert gas narcosis. The event-related brain potential P300 was used to determine whether these drug effects involve stimulus- or response-related processes, since P300 largely reflects the time to evaluate a stimulus while RT reflects this time plus the time to select and execute a response. Subjects breathed nitrous oxide (N2O) alone and in combination with ethyl alcohol or dextroamphetamine while responding to visually presented names that differed in probability (the oddball paradigm). N2O slowed P300, but this measure was comparatively insensitive to the exacerbation and amelioration that were indexed by RT. Relative to N2O alone, an RT-P300 difference was found for amphetamine + N2O but not for alcohol + N2O. We conclude that exacerbation involves both stimulus- and response-related processes but amelioration involves only the latter. This pattern of results can be explained by a model in which the drugs modulate slowing via the two energetical dimensions of arousal and activation, which influence stimulus- and response-related processes, respectively.

Language: en