The effect of altitude upon various nervous functions

Abstract

During several expeditions to the Jungfraujoch (3450 m) the effect of residence at altitude upon various nervous functions of healthy subjects was studied. The threshold of cutaneous and gustatory sensitivity, the threshold of the knee-jerk reflex, the amplitude of equilibratory movements and the reaction time to optic stimulation were measured at 560 or 800 m, and on the same subjects during a stay of 2 or 3 weeks on the Jungfraujoch, and finally once more after the return to the plain. Apparatus was specially adapted for this (Fleisch 1945; Grandjean 1948a).The major results were as follows: the thresholds of cutaneous sensitivity were lowered at an altitude of 3450 m in forty-two of fifty examined subjects. The thresholds returned to normal values in some subjects at the end of the stay at Jungfraujoch and in all subjects after the return to the plain. An analogous result was obtained by either measuring the cutaneous sensitivity electrically or by measuring the sensitivity of the cornea with a hair (Grandjean 19486). The thresholds of gustatory sensitivity to glucose, NaCl, tartaric acid and to quinine were lowered in all 18 subjects examined during their stay at the Jungfraujoch (Fleisch & Grandjean J944).