COLD-INDUCED VASODILATATION ONSET AND MANUAL PERFORMANCE IN THE COLD

This study is an investigation of manual dexterity capabilities during whole-body cold exposure as a function of time to vasodilatation during local cooling. Thirty male subjects were divided into three equal groups on the basis of the time for a 3deg F (1.7deg C) rise in index finger temperature during immersion of the hand in 4.4deg C water: ( 450 sec group, 450-900 sec group, and )900 sec group. Subsequently, each subject was exposed to ambient temperatures of 15.6deg and -6.7deg C for three hours while performing a battery of six manual tasks bare-handed. Manual performance on all tasks was affected adversely at the -6.7deg C ambient and worsened with continued cold exposure. The drop in performance on three tasks involving skilled movements of the wrist and fingers was greatest for the 450 sec group. Within the limits of the present study, the early onset of vasodilatation in local cooling per se appears to be associated with initially superior performance and subsequently inferior performance on specific manual tasks with increasing durations of whole-body cold exposure.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00140139
• Corporate Authors:

  Purdue University/Indiana Department of Transportation JHRP

  Purdue University, School of Civil Engineering
  West Lafayette, IN  United States  47907-1284
• Authors:
  • Bensel, C K
  • Lockhart, J M
• Publication Date: 1974-11

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 717-730
• Serial:
  • Ergonomics
  • Volume: 17
  • Issue Number: 6
  • Publisher: Taylor & Francis
  • ISSN: 0014-0139
  • EISSN: 1366-5847
  • Serial URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/terg20

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cold weather; Human factors; Low temperature; Operations; Physiological aspects
• Old TRIS Terms: Physiological factors
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00095626
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Engineering Index
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 24 1976 12:00AM