The role of hypoxia in mental development and in the treatment of mental disorders: a review.

The purpose of this review is to trace the trends in studying and applying hypoxia in the field of mental problems. A literature review was conducted using the PubMed database, with a time-frame extending to October 2010. According to the neurodevelopmental model of mental disorders, abnormalities in brain development during pre- and perinatal life lead to psychotic manifestation in adolescence or young adulthood. Studies show that hypoxia plays an important role in almost any risk factor related to brain development in early life: pre-eclampsia, infection/inflammation, hypoxia/ischemia, preterm birth, and asphyxia at birth. The cited data show trends in using hypoxia, especially in the form of intermittent hypoxic training, for the treatment and prevention of mental disorders, and trends in using it for increasing mental capacity in animals.