Objective      To determine the effect of rapid entry into plateau on cognitive function of new recruits.       Methods      A total of 42 recruits who were newly joined the army and sampled from 362 recruits were enrolled in this experiment. A set of psychology experimental instruments was used to measure 10 related experimental indexes

namely

reaction-movement time (reaction and movement)

speed-perception

operating-dexterity

time-perception

memory span (digital and alphabet)

depth-perception

short-term memory and attention span before and after they entered the plateau.

Paired student’s t test or nonparametric test was employed to analyze the changes of above indexes due to acute exposure to high altitude.       Results      Compared to the indexes in the plain

there was significant difference in operating-dexterity (

P

0.05)

time-perception (

P

0.01)

memory span (digit

P

0.01)

depth-perception (

P

0.01)

short-term memory (graph

P

0.01) when they entered high altitude. Among these indexes

the performance of operating dexterity and time-perception were superior in the plain than in the plateau. Memory span (digital) reached the peak 8 whether in the plain or after entry into the plateau

while the difference was significant when the digit was beyond 8

with a sharply decrease seen in the plain and a slow decline in the plateau. Depth-perception was more prone to ‘see close’

but it was affected more greatly in the plain. Short-term memory (graph) performances were a slight enhancement after entry into the plateau. There was no significant difference in reaction-movement time（

P

0.05）

speed-perception（

P

0.05）

  memory span(alphabet

P

0.05）

and attention span(P0.05) in the recruits before and after acute exposure to high altitude.        Conclusion      Acute exposure to high altitude may exert certain effect on cognitive functions

especially on the performances in operating-dexterity

depth-perception and time-perception.