The Effect of High Altitude on Emotion and its Physiological Mechanism

Experienced emotional discomfort as negative, depressive mood increase and positive mood reduce has been observed after long-term exposure to high altitude (HA). Scientists have found it can be affected through sleep, however few studies found it to have no relations with sleep at high altitude, so this study intends to find out whether sleep quality play its role in emotion variation of long-term migrants to HA, and whether the oxygen-carrying capacity can influence the possible effect of sleep quality on emotions. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO_2max) was measured and the participants also completed questionnaires including Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 items (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-7). The analysis of 105 health participants, who resided at a high altitude (3,680m) for more than 2 years showed that sleep quality is associated with depression mood and VO_2max can moderate the relationship between them, with sleep can better influence depression within individuals with lower VO_2max. These results indicate that oxygen carrying capacity can influence emotion through sleep, offer insights of emotion intervention at HA.