Focus on functional hypoxia

Motor-cognitive training has been shown to improve global functioning, physical fitness, cognitive performance and psychopathological traits in healthy controls and neuropsychiatric patients. This successful approach has been linked to beneficial effects on brain plasticity, in patients demonstrated e.g. via magnetic resonance imaging by increased volume of disease-related brain regions such as the hippocampus.

Hannelore Ehrenreich is set to start the symposium by introducing functional hypoxia as a concept explaining benefits of motor-cognitive training. She will provide the scientific basis of this concept and translational approaches in progress. Later, Peter Falkai will report on physical exercise counteracting brain matter loss in mental illness, in particular schizophrenia, and improvement in psychopathology, cognition and global functioning. Kamilla Miskowiak is going to present first experience with her human hypoxia project ALTIBRAIN in healthy subjects and patients with affective disorders. She will provide data on tolerability and first evidence of efficacy. Johannes Burtscher will describe studies performed with repeated short-term bouts of hyperoxia. Essentially, he will delineate that hyperoxic recovery interferes with metabolic adaptation to hypoxic exercise.

Program:

Concept of functional hypoxia: scientific basis and translational approaches
Professor Dr. Hannelore Ehrenreich (Mannheim, Germany)

Efficiency of endurance sports reflects functional hypoxia
Professor Dr Peter Falkai (Munich, Germany)

The human hypoxia project ALTIBRAIN: Tolerability and first evidence of efficacy
Professor Dr Kamilla Miskowiak (Copenhagen, Denmark)

Hyperoxic recovery interferes with metabolic adaptation to hypoxic exercise
Professor Dr Johannes Burtscher (Innsbruck, Austria)