Decision making under hypoxia: Oxygen depletion increases risk seeking for losses but not for gains

Abstract

We report a preliminary study that compared decisions made in an oxygen depleted environment with those made in a normoxic environment. Participants were presented with a series of choices that involved either losses or gains. For each choice they were forced to choose between a sure thing and a gamble of the same expected value. For choices involving losses, participants were more risk seeking in the oxygen depleted environment; for those involving gains, no difference was found.

Keywords

• oxygen depletion
• hypoxia
• risk aversion