Journal of Vestibular Research - Volume 13, issue 4-6

Authors: Yates, B.J. | Holmes, M.J. | Jian, B.J.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Immediately following spaceflight, many astronauts are unable to maintain adequate perfusion of the brain after assuming an upright posture; this condition is called post-spaceflight orthostatic intolerance (PSOI). Considerable evidence shows that inputs from otolith organs and other graviceptors play an important role in regulating blood pressure during changes in posture in a 1-g environment. However, reflexes elicited by graviceptors, presumably including those affecting the cardiovascular system, are attenuated during spaceflight. Thus, PSOI could be related to effects of microgravity on the processing of inputs from otolith organs and other graviceptors by the central vestibular system. It is likely that successful …countermeasures for PSOI must address the plastic changes induced in the nervous system by changes in the patterns of graviceptive inputs that occur during spaceflight. Show more

Keywords: cardiovascular, blood pressure, vestibular system, otolith organ, sympathetic nervous system

DOI: 10.3233/VES-2003-134-621

Citation: Journal of Vestibular Research, vol. 13, no. 4-6, pp. 395-404, 2003

Authors: Cohen, Helen S.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper is an overview of current research on development of rehabilitative countermeasures to ameliorate the effects of long-term exposure to microgravity on sensorimotor function during space flight. After many years of work we do not yet have operational countermeasures, probably for several reasons: 1) changes in the use of vestibular input are manifested in many ways, 2) due to multiple mechanisms for funding research, investigators doing related research may not coordinate their work, and 3) relatively few scientists work on this problem. The number of investigators and physicians who routinely deal with the functional problems of astronauts and the …limitations of working in the space environment is tiny; the number of investigators who are therapists, and who therefore have experience and expertise in developing rehabilitation programs, is miniscule. That's the bad news. The good news is that as a group, we are little but mighty. Therefore, the entire group of investigators can plan to take a more coordinated, collaborative approach than investigators in larger fields. Also, serendipitously, individual research groups have begun approaching different rehabilitative aspects of this problem. If we make a greater effort toward a coordinated, multidimensional approach, guided by rehabilitation concepts, we will be able to provide operational sensorimotor countermeasures when they are needed. Show more

Keywords: vestibular, spaceflight, microgravity, countermeasures, exercise, therapy, rehabilitation, centrifuge, vibrotactile, variable practice, motor learning

DOI: 10.3233/VES-2003-134-622

Citation: Journal of Vestibular Research, vol. 13, no. 4-6, pp. 405-409, 2003