A multidisciplinary team of 21 Italian researchers has completed the scientific mission “Pyramid26 – Exploration and Physiology”, which took them to Ev-K2-CNR’s Piramide laboratory-observatory, located at an altitude of 5,050 metres in the Khumbu valley in Nepal, at the foot of Everest. The expedition was led by Vittore Verratti, professor of physiology at the University of Chieti-Pescara, with the participation of several Italian universities.
The sleep protocol was developed by the Sleep Psychophysiology laboratory at the University of L’Aquila, directed by Michele Ferrara. The aim is to understand how a lack of oxygen alters brain activity and the organisation of sleep throughout the ascent, a subject far less understood than the effects of altitude on breathing.
The scientists used portable electroencephalograms, wristbands recording sleep-wake rhythms, monitoring of breathing and oxygenation, and a smartphone app that collected real-time data on sleep, emotional state and even dreams. The final tally includes 170 overnight EEG recordings, 600 days of continuous monitoring and 1,130 app entries, over 15 days of trekking and more than 120 kilometres covered.
According to Federico Salfi of the University of L’Aquila, operational lead for the sleep research, the result is an “incredibly rich” longitudinal dataset. The researcher believes the protocol could serve as a model for studying sleep in other extreme and hard-to-reach environments, and months of analysis now lie ahead.
