Impact of acute partial-body cryostimulation on cognitive performance, cerebral oxygenation, and cardiac autonomic activity

We assessed the effects of a 3-min partial-body cryostimulation (PBC) exposure-where the whole body is exposed to extreme cold, except the head-on cognitive inhibition performance and the possible implications of parasympathetic cardiac control and cerebral oxygenation. In a randomized controlled counterbalanced cross-over design, eighteen healthy young adults (nine males and nine females) completed a cognitive Stroop task before and after one single session of PBC (3-min exposure at -150 degrees C cold air) and a control condition (3 min at room temperature, 20 degrees C). During the cognitive task, heart rate variability (HRV) and cerebral oxygenation of the prefrontal cortex were measured using heart rate monitoring and near-infrared spectroscopy methods. We also recorded the cerebral oxygenation during the PBC session. Stroop performance after PBC exposure was enhanced (562.0 +/- 40.2 ms) compared to pre-PBC (602.0 +/- 56.4 ms; P < 0.042) in males only, accompanied by an increase (P < 0.05) in HRV indices of parasympathetic tone, in greater proportion in males compared to females. During PBC, cerebral oxygenation decreased in a similar proportion in males and females but the cerebral extraction (deoxyhemoglobin: Delta HHb) remained higher after exposure in males, only. These data demonstrate that a single PBC session enhances the cognitive inhibition performance on a Stroop task in males, partly mediated by a greater parasympathetic cardiac control and greater cerebral oxygenation. The effects of PBC on cognitive function seem different in females, possibly explained by a different sensitivity to cold stimulation.

Automated summary

This study found that a brief PBC exposure enhances cognitive inhibition performance on a Stroop task in males, mediated by increased parasympathetic cardiac control and cerebral oxygenation. However, the effects of PBC on cognitive function seem to differ in females, possibly due to different sensitivity to cold stimulation.