Mf. Reschke et al., POSTURE, LOCOMOTION, SPATIAL ORIENTATION, AND MOTION SICKNESS AS A FUNCTION OF SPACE-FLIGHT, Brain research reviews, 28(1-2), 1998, pp. 102-117
This article summarizes a variety of newly published findings obtained
by the Neuroscience Laboratory, Johnson Space Center, and attempts to
place this work within a historical framework of previous results on
posture, locomotion, motion sickness, and perceptual responses that ha
ve been observed in conjunction with space flight. In this context we
have taken the view that correct transduction and integration of signa
ls from all sensory systems is essential to maintaining stable vision,
postural and locomotor control, and eye-hand coordination as componen
ts of spatial orientation. The plasticity of the human central nervous
system allows individuals to adapt to altered stimulus conditions enc
ountered in a microgravity environment. However, until some level of a
daptation is achieved, astronauts and cosmonauts often experience spac
e motion sickness, disturbances in motion control and eye-hand coordin
ation, unstable vision, and illusory motion of the self, the visual sc
ene, or both. Many of the same types of disturbances encountered in sp
ace flight reappear immediately after crew members return to earth. Th
e magnitude of these neurosensory, sensory-motor and perceptual distur
bances, and the time needed to recover from them, tend to vary as a fu
nction of mission duration and the space travelers prior experience wi
th the stimulus rearrangement of space flight. To adequately chart the
development of neurosensory changes associated with space flight, we
recommend development of enhanced eye movement systems and body positi
on measurement. We also advocate the use of a human small radius centr
ifuge as both a research tool and as a means of providing on-orbit cou
ntermeasures that will lessen the impact of living for long periods of
time with out exposure to altering gravito-inertial forces. (C) 1998
Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.