The anesthetic effect of air at atmospheric pressure
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
The anesthetic effect of air at atmospheric pressure
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Re: The anesthetic effect of air at atmospheric pressure
#2What if instead it's helium that is a slight stimulant?
Re: The anesthetic effect of air at atmospheric pressure
#3The action potential is an electrical manipulation of reversible abrupt phase changes in the lipid bilayer. Normally the lipid bilayer is in a liquid phase but the the switching out of monovalent sodium for bivalent calcium ions changes the number of phospholipid carboxyl head groups each ion is electrostatically associated with. This changes the heat capacity and causes the lipid membrane to become a solid/gel phase. The action potential itself is the propagation of this solid phase.
This is how thermodynamics can effect neurons. And this is why dissolving gases into the lipid membrane, like nitrogen in the article, cause change the thermodynamic properties like the heat capacity and retard the solid phase a bit. Light gases increase liquidity. That's the anesthetic effect that reduces firing rates. And that's why local atmospheric pressure matters in gas anesthesia dosing.
It's not that the old hogkin-huxley purely electrical circuit model is "wrong", it's a fine approximation of some effects. But it certainly can't explain the reversible uptake and release of heat during a passing action potential, nor the changes in birefringence and optical scattering, nor why nitrogen can act as an anesthetic like in this case.
Re: The anesthetic effect of air at atmospheric pressure
#4A 10% increase in reaction time could be fairly significant in many sports. Could we start seeing football players, sprinters, or baseball players breathing from masks between plays?
Re: The anesthetic effect of air at atmospheric pressure
#5Just completed my deep (40m/120ft) diver certification. A significant amount of the course was focused on nitrogen narcosis, and how to handle/detect it.
Apparently, some divers will start feeling the narcotic effect between 20-30m. Beyond 30m, a significant amount of divers can feel the effects.
Beyond 40m is the realm of tech diving, with trimix (helium/nitrogen/oxygen) or even heliox (helium/oxygen). I know nothing about this, so I’ll let others comment.
The interesting thing about this research is that it sort of makes sense, and yet is very surprising. We’re basically continuously narked, we’re just so used to it we don’t even know.
Fun fact: the exact cause of nitrogen narcosis is not exactly understood. It is most likely the fact that at higher partial pressures nitrogen is able to enter the fatty tissues surrounding our nerves. Except for helium, no other gas exists which does not have some form narcotic effect at higher pressures.
Considering the prices of helium, this also explains why many deep divers are starting to consider rebreathers.
Re: The anesthetic effect of air at atmospheric pressure
#6What if instead it's helium that is a slight stimulant?
Do stimulants reduce reaction time? Waking someone up isn't the same as actually improving their performance.
Re: The anesthetic effect of air at atmospheric pressure
#7I wonder how much it would cost to fill my office with helium/oxygen mix to maximize my productivity.
Would sound odd during calls, though!
Re: The anesthetic effect of air at atmospheric pressure
#8A 10% increase in reaction time could be fairly significant in many sports. Could we start seeing football players, sprinters, or baseball players breathing from masks between plays?
While scuba diving, nitrogen narcosis stops the instant you ascend a bit (the typical recommendation is to reduce the ambient pressure by one atmosphere). I don’t think there is anything in this study that indicates the effect lasts more than a few minutes after exposure ceases.
Re: The anesthetic effect of air at atmospheric pressure
#9Just curious, is this responsible for any of the effects of hyperventilation?
Re: The anesthetic effect of air at atmospheric pressure
#10What if instead it's helium that is a slight stimulant?
Do stimulants reduce reaction time? Waking someone up isn't the same as actually improving their performance.
Some people can treat their ADHD using stimulants, and your reaction time tends to be better in that circumstance (citation needed though, I guess).
IME, too much stimulants causes hyperreflexia, but I'm not sure if it's because of a decreased reaction time.