 The precise mechanism is not well understood , but it appears to be the direct effect of gas dissolving into nerve membranes and causing temporary disruption in nerve transmissions . While the effect was first observed with air , other gases including argon , krypton and hydrogen cause very similar effects at higher than atmospheric pressure . Some of these effects may be due to antagonism at NMDA receptors and potentiation of GABAA receptors , similar to the mechanism of nonpolar anesthetics such diethyl ether or ethylene . However , their reproduction by the very chemically inactive gas argon makes them unlikely to be a strictly chemical bonding to receptors in the usual sense of a chemical bond . An indirect physical effect – such as a change in membrane volume – would therefore be needed to affect the ligand @-@ gated ion channels of nerve cells . Trudell et al. have suggested non @-@ chemical binding due to the attractive van der Waals force between proteins and inert gases . 
