Performance Decrement by Exposure to Sub-Lethal Doses of lonising Radiations

摘要

Under many circumstances, exposure to ionising radiation can impede performance significantly. After large doses, lethal or supra-Iethal, behavioural effects are rapid (within minutes), but up to 10 Gy, performance deficits develop rather slowly and are long-Iasting. All tasks are not equally radiosensitive; tasks with complex and demanding requirements may be disrupted even at low radiation doses (&1 Gy). Combined injuries can act synergistically with radiation exposure to greatly increase behavioural deficits. Most of the adioprotectors developed todate are themselves behaviourally??toxic at radioprotective as well as non-protective doses and the adverse effects are further aggravated in the presence of radiation. A very limited number of radioprotectors have been found to give behavioural radioprotection at very low, almost non-toxic doses.