Comment by leobg
6 hours ago
So then, is it really the CO2 that produces the cognitive impairment, or is the CO2 here just the proxy value that we are measuring, and the real reason for the cognitive impairment is low oxygen?
6 hours ago
So then, is it really the CO2 that produces the cognitive impairment, or is the CO2 here just the proxy value that we are measuring, and the real reason for the cognitive impairment is low oxygen?
Nitrogen also causes cognitive impairment. It is essentially a very weak anesthetic. If you can replace all of the nitrogen in your breathing gas with helium then you'll probably gain the equivalent of a couple IQ points (although obviously that isn't generally practical).
If the amount of CO2 is basically a rounding error, so too would be the reduction in oxygen.
It’s also the metabolic changes in pH. CO2 is a proxy for ph as carbon dioxide acidifies the blood as it dissolves.
You could climb a mountain to test your hypothesis, keeping an eye on partial pressure of O2
We have a natural experiment. People in Denver aren't especially stupid.