Citation

O'Reilly JP, Respicio BL, Kurata FK, Hayashi EM. Undersea Biomed. Res. 1977; 4(3): 307-314.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1977, Undersea Medical Society)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

910320

Abstract

Five divers were tested for alterations in auditory, visual, and gustatory functioning during a 17-day saturation exposure to He-O2 at 18.6 ATA. No evidence of permanent hearing loss was disclosed. Critical flicker fusion was not affected, but peripheral visual thresholds were significantly increased during the first two weeks at 18.6 ATA; this was interpreted to be evidence of severe psychological and physiological stress. Foveal vision was unaffected across testings. Magnitude estimation techniques disclosed changes in taste sensitivity, with sweet sensitivity increasing over time and sour sensitivity declining over the course of the dive. Subjects were more sensitive to bitter stimuli at maximum pressure than at sea level, and less sensitive to salt at maximum pressure. The results indicate that appreciable alterations in sensory functioning can occur during saturation exposures, although the sense modalities were differentially affected by such environmental stressors as pressure, psycho-social stress, fatigue, and perceptual deprivation.

Language: en