Hypoxia Disrupts Multiple Processes Supporting Spatial Navigation
- 1Bond University
Abstract
Hypoxia impairs cognitive function, yet its effects on navigation and intrinsic brain activity remain poorly understood. This study investigated whether a continuous exposure to hypoxia (CH) or an intermittent exposure to hypoxia (IH) differentially influence navigation performance and resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) in healthy young adults. Seventy-two participants completed sham (FiO2 = .209) and hypoxia (FiO2 = .13) sessions during either a one hour of CH or IH intervention. Navigation was assessed using the Spatial Performance Assessment for Cognitive Evaluation (SPACE), while resting-state EEG was recorded before and after the intervention in a subset of participants (n = 40). EEG spectra were parameterised into periodic (alpha and beta power and central frequency) and aperiodic (exponent and offset) components. Aligned rank transform (ART) analyses of variance examined effects of hypoxia and intervention group, while linear regression determined whether reductions in peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) predicted changes in navigation or EEG. Hypoxia impaired multiple components of navigation, increasing path integration distance error and egocentric pointing angle error irrespective of intervention group, while mapping accuracy was preferentially impaired following IH and perspective taking performance following CH. Hypoxia also reduced alpha and beta power, beta central frequency, and aperiodic exponent, while aperiodic offset and alpha central frequency remained stable. The reduction in aperiodic exponent was primarily evident following IH, suggesting that the temporal pattern of oxygen delivery may influence specific neurophysiological responses. Contrary to our hypothesis, SpO2 reduction did not predict individual differences in navigation performance or EEG activity. These findings demonstrate that brief, moderate hypoxic exposure can disrupt allocentric and egocentric components of spatial navigation while selectively altering periodic and aperiodic features of intrinsic brain activity.
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BibTeX
@misc{mckeown2026hypoxia,
title = {{Hypoxia Disrupts Multiple Processes Supporting Spatial Navigation}},
author = {D. J. McKeown and H. M. Bahnson-Wright and T. Caldwell and M. Marks and G. R. Marshall and H. Newton and D. Stenholm and M. Young and D. J. Angus and V. R. Schinazi},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.24.753962},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.24.753962v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Hypoxia Disrupts Multiple Processes Supporting Spatial Navigation
AU - D. J. McKeown
AU - H. M. Bahnson-Wright
AU - T. Caldwell
AU - M. Marks
AU - G. R. Marshall
AU - H. Newton
AU - D. Stenholm
AU - M. Young
AU - D. J. Angus
AU - V. R. Schinazi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/24
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.24.753962
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.24.753962v1
AB - Hypoxia impairs cognitive function, yet its effects on navigation and intrinsic brain activity remain poorly understood. This study investigated whether a continuous exposure to hypoxia (CH) or an intermittent exposure to hypoxia (IH) differentially influence navigation performance and resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) in healthy young adults. Seventy-two participants completed sham (FiO2 = .209) and hypoxia (FiO2 = .13) sessions during either a one hour of CH or IH intervention. Navigation was assessed using the Spatial Performance Assessment for Cognitive Evaluation (SPACE), while resting-state EEG was recorded before and after the intervention in a subset of participants (n = 40). EEG spectra were parameterised into periodic (alpha and beta power and central frequency) and aperiodic (exponent and offset) components. Aligned rank transform (ART) analyses of variance examined effects of hypoxia and intervention group, while linear regression determined whether reductions in peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) predicted changes in navigation or EEG. Hypoxia impaired multiple components of navigation, increasing path integration distance error and egocentric pointing angle error irrespective of intervention group, while mapping accuracy was preferentially impaired following IH and perspective taking performance following CH. Hypoxia also reduced alpha and beta power, beta central frequency, and aperiodic exponent, while aperiodic offset and alpha central frequency remained stable. The reduction in aperiodic exponent was primarily evident following IH, suggesting that the temporal pattern of oxygen delivery may influence specific neurophysiological responses. Contrary to our hypothesis, SpO2 reduction did not predict individual differences in navigation performance or EEG activity. These findings demonstrate that brief, moderate hypoxic exposure can disrupt allocentric and egocentric components of spatial navigation while selectively altering periodic and aperiodic features of intrinsic brain activity.
ER -