Associations between spontaneous electroencephalogram oscillations and oxygen saturation across normobaric and hypobaric hypoxia

High-altitude indoctrination (HAI) trains individuals to recognize symptoms of hypoxia by simulating high-altitude conditions using normobaric (NH) or hypobaric (HH) hypoxia. Previous studies suggest that despite equivalent inspired oxygen levels, physiological differences could exist between these conditions. In particular, differences in neurophysiological responses to these conditions are not clear. Our study aimed to investigate correlations between oxygen saturation (SpO(2)) and neural responses in NH and HH. We recorded 5-min of resting-state eyes-open electroencephalogram (EEG) and SpO(2) during control, NH, and HH conditions from 13 participants. We applied a multivariate framework to characterize correlations between SpO(2) and EEG measures (spectral power and multiscale entropy [MSE]), within each participant and at the group level. Participants were desaturating during the first 150 s of NH versus steadily desaturated in HH. We considered the entire time interval, first and second half intervals, separately. All the conditions were characterized by statistically significant participant-specific patterns of EEG-SpO(2) correlations. However, at the group level, the desaturation period expressed a robust pattern of these correlations across frequencies and brain locations. Specifically, the first 150 s of NH during desaturation differed significantly from the other conditions with negative absolute alpha power-SpO(2) correlations and positive MSE-SpO(2) correlations. Once steadily desaturated, NH and HH had no significant differences in EEG-SpO(2) correlations. Our findings indicate that the desaturating phase of hypoxia is a critical period in HAI courses, which would require developing strategies for mitigating the hypoxic stimulus in a real-world situation.