Mountain climbing bad for the brain

[B the Hiker]

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/...in/?scp=1&sq=mountaineering and health&st=cse

Frankly, I need every cell of gray matter I can get!


Brian

 

[Chip]

Or climbers are just dumber to start with...

"Do the studies discuss causation or just merely a correlation? What if high altitude climbing just happened to attract people with sub-average executive functions, etc., rather than sub-average executive functions being diminished by high altitude climbing?
— Jennifer B."

 

[Stan]

I've always felt that the thinner oxygen at higher altitudes was responsible for allowing the brain cells with bad memories and thoughts to die while preserving the other cells.

 

[B the Hiker]

Stan is alluding the "heard of buffalo" theory, in which the heard can only run as fast as the slowest buffalo in the back. As they get picked off by chasing predators, the rest of the heard can move faster. This is also true for drinking, in which the alcohol kills off the slowest brain cells first, making the rest of the brain faster.

I can't tell which is funnier, the add for a guide service up Orizaba to the right of the comments, or comment #18 noting that given the risks of death due to avalanches, hypothermia and rock falls, the loss of a point or two of IQ seems trivial.



Brian

 

[DougPaul]

Poor title: "High Altitude Bad for the Brain" might be more appropriate.

Houston, et al (2005) observe that the topic has been controversial.

A few climbers who returned from Everest without mishap have shown small lasting effects manifested by slowed finger tapping (a test of reaction speed). Recent CT scans done on two veterans of many Himalayan climbs suggest that their brains may have shrunk very slightly, although no changes in performance remain.

Ref: Charles Houstin, David E. Harris, Ellen J. Zeman, "Going Higher: Oxygen, Man, and Mountains", The Mountaineers Books, 2005. http://www.amazon.com/Going-Higher-...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238087508&sr=8-1

Tom Hornbein, also observed that it took about a year for his abstract thinking abilities to fully recover from a traverse of Everest and an oxygenless bivy near the summit of the South Peak. (ref?)
Tom Hornbein: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Hornbein

Doug

 

[Jean]

Nathalie and I took part in a similar study in Anchorage last summer by the IFAM (Institute For Altitude Medicine) from Telluride.
It's the 3rd one on the list below.
http://altitudemedicine.org/research.php

The results should be out later this year.
They gave us a copy of the MRI they took before and after the Denali climb so I have proof there is some brain activity up there.

 

[bcskier]

Of course the article doesn't seem to mention (or I missed seeing it) whether the climbers in the study attempted oxygenless ascents or not. I vaguely seem to remember some anecdotal references to Messner having suffered some loss of brain function due to his exploits.