Psychological studies of human performance as affected by traces of enflurane and nitrous oxide

Abstract

30 human subjects were exposed for 4 hr to 500 ppm N2O, and 15 ppm enflurane in air, and then, within 5 min, given a 35 min battery of psychological tests. Performance of a divided attention audiovisual task and a digit span memory test were significantly decreased, compared with control data following exposure to air. A tachistoscopic task, 4 tests from the Wechsler memory scale, and 5 others from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale were unaffected. 30 subjects exposed to 500 ppm N2O in air only scored significantly lower on the digit span test.