Dynamics of the functional state of the participants of the Russian Antarctic expedition during the sea travel to the Ice Continent
Abstract
Observations of the dynamics of the functional indicators of participants in Antarctic expeditions show that the first changes in psychological status, the state of regulatory systems, and energy and plastic metabolism begin even before landing on the ice continent, on the way to the landing site.
The purpose of the study is to trace the dynamics of psychophysiological indicators and indicators of the cardiovascular system and its autonomous regulation during the sea travel from St. Petersburg to Antarctica (November 3 – December 8, 2024).
Methodology. Nine members of the 70th Russian Antarctic Expedition (70th RAE) participate in the study. Daily testing of psychophysiological indicators (simple and complex sensorimotor reaction time, reaction time to a moving object, and attention distribution test) was performed using the BioMouse KFP-01b device (NeuroLab LLC, Russia), as well as heart rate variability (HRV): each recording lasted 90–120 seconds, and statistical, geometric, and spectral indicators of HRV were analyzed. In addition, the heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) were recorded using a tonometer. To facilitate the assessment of the dynamics of the indicators, the entire observation period was divided into 5 weekly intervals, and the average values for each participant were calculated for each week. As a synchronous control, the results of the assessment of HRV using the method of spiroarteriocardiorhythmography by employees of the Research Institute of General Pathology and Pathophysiology in Moscow were used: five weekly tests lasting 2 minutes each.
Results. During the first three weeks of the expedition (in the northern hemisphere), no changes in psychophysiological indicators were observed. In the cardiovascular system, there was a decrease in heart rate, a tendency towards a decrease in pulse pressure, and a tendency towards a decrease in the stress index. In the control group, there were no changes in any of the evaluated indicators, but there was a tendency towards statistical differences in RMSSD when comparing the groups. Over the 1–5 week interval, we found a tendency for the expedition participants to experience a delay in their reaction to a moving object; no changes were observed in other psychophysiological indicators. In the cardiovascular system indicators, there was a tendency for heart rate to decrease and for RMSSD to increase. In the control group, the only change in cardiovascular system indicators was a tendency for pulse pressure to decrease. The only indicator whose dynamics had statistically significant intergroup differences over this time period was the RMSSD value.
Conclusion. The data obtained indicate that during the expedition to Antarctica, the psychophysiological indicators were stable during the sea travel to the ice continent. However, during this period, the first signs of changes in the body's regulatory systems were observed, such as a decrease in sympathetic influences and an increase in the activity of the parasympathetic branch of autonomic regulation.
