Psychophysiological assessment and correction of spatial disorientation during simulated Orion spacecraft re-entry.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has identified a potential risk of spatial disorientation, motion sickness, and degraded performance to astronauts during re-entry and landing of the proposed Orion crew vehicle. The purpose of this study was to determine if a physiological training procedure, Autogenic-Feedback Training Exercise (AFTE), can mitigate these adverse effects. Fourteen men and six women were assigned to two groups (AFTE, no-treatment Control) matched for motion sickness susceptibility and gender. All subjects received a standard rotating chair test to determine motion sickness susceptibility; three training sessions on a manual performance task; and four exposures in the rotating chair (Orion tests) simulating angular accelerations of the crew vehicle during re-entry. AFTE subjects received 2 h of training before Orion tests 2, 3, and 4. Motion sickness symptoms, task performance, and physiological measures were recorded on all subjects. Results showed that the AFTE group had significantly lower symptom scores when compared to Controls on test 2 (p = .05), test 3 (p = .03), and test 4 (p = .02). Although there were no significant group differences on task performance, trends showed that AFTE subjects were less impaired than Controls. Heart rate change scores (20 rpm minus baseline) of AFTE subjects indicated significantly less reactivity on Test 4 compared to Test 1 (10.09 versus 16.59, p = .02), while Controls did not change significantly across tests. Results of this study indicate that AFTE may be an effective countermeasure for mitigating spatial disorientation and motion sickness in astronauts.

Fluid loading effects on temporal profiles of cardiovascular responses to head-down tilt.

BACKGROUND: Susceptibility of healthy astronauts to orthostatic hypotension and presyncope is exacerbated upon return from spaceflight. Up to 64% of astronauts experience postflight orthostatic intolerance. A promising countermeasure for postflight orthostatic intolerance is fluid loading by giving crew salt tablets and water prior to re-entry. The primary goal of the current study was to determine the optimal time window prior to re-entry when individual crew-persons would initiate fluid loading. METHODS: There were 16 subjects who were given two 6-h exposures, with and without fluid loading (conditions), to head-down tilt (HDT) to simulate the effects of microgravity. Pre- and post-HDT stand tests of orthostatic tolerance were given. Physiological measurements recorded included heart rate, blood pressure, peripheral blood volume, total peripheral resistance, and impedance cardiography. Echocardiography measures of stroke volume and cardiac output were also recorded. RESULTS: Data were analyzed with three-way repeated measures ANOVA (gender × condition × time). Only the condition × time interaction was significant for mean arterial pressure. Post hoc multiple comparison tests revealed significant increases in mean arterial pressure occurred between hours 1 and 3 of HDT after fluid loading (10 mmHg higher than no fluid). DISCUSSION: These findings indicate that the optimal time for crew to begin fluid loading is within 1 to 3 h prior to re-entry. Nonsignificant trends of multiple cardiovascular responses showed similar time profiles. The large amount of individual variability suggests that fluid loading alone may be an inadequate countermeasure for all crewmembers. Further research is needed on possible adjunct methods of tailoring countermeasures for individuals.

G-loading and vibration effects on heart and respiration rates.

BACKGROUND: Operational environments expose pilots and astronauts to sustained acceleration (G loading) and whole-body vibration, alone and in combination. Separately, the physiological effects of G loading and vibration have been well studied; both have effects similar to mild exercise. The few studies of combined G loading and vibration have not reported an interaction between these factors on physiological responses. METHODS: We tested the effects of G loading (+1 and +3.8 G(x)) and vibration (0.5 gx at 8, 12, and 16 Hz), alone and in combination, on heart and respiration rate. RESULTS: We observed an effect of G loading on heart rate (average increase of 23 bpm, SD 12) and respiration rate (average increase of 5 breaths per minute, SD 5), an effect of vibration on heart rate, and an interaction on heart rate. With vibration, we observed heart rate increases of 4 bpm (SD: 3) with no increase in respiration rate. In the +1 G(x) condition, the largest heart rate increase occurred during low-frequency (8 Hz) vibration, while at +3.8 G(x), the largest heart rate increase occurred during high-frequency (16 Hz) vibration, demonstrating interaction. DISCUSSION: Consistent with previous reports, our G-loading and vibration effects are similar to mild exercise. In addition, we observed an interaction between G loading and vibration on heart rate, with maximum heart rates occurring at a higher vibration frequency at +3.8 G(x) compared to +1 G(x). The observed interaction demonstrates that G-loading and vibration effects are not independent and can only be properly assessed during combined exposure.

Cardiovascular change during encoding predicts the nonconscious mere exposure effect.

These studies examined memory encoding to determine whether the mere exposure effect could be categorized as a form of conceptual or perceptual implicit priming and, if it was not conceptual or perceptual, whether cardiovascular psychophysiology could reveal its nature. Experiment 1 examined the effects of study phase level of processing on recognition, the mere exposure effect, and word identification implicit priming. Deep relative to shallow processing improved recognition but did not influence the mere exposure effect for nonwords or word identification implicit priming for words. Experiments 2 and 3 examined the effect of study-test changes in font and orientation, respectively, on the mere exposure effect and word identification implicit priming. Different study-test font and orientation reduced word identification implicit priming but had no influence on the mere exposure effect. Experiments 4 and 5 developed and used, respectively, a cardiovascular psychophysiological implicit priming paradigm to examine whether stimulus-specific cardiovascular reactivity at study predicted the mere exposure effect at test. Blood volume pulse change at study was significantly greater for nonwords that were later preferred than for nonwords that were not preferred at test. There was no difference in blood volume pulse change for words at study that were later either identified or not identified at test. Fluency effects, at encoding or retrieval, are an unlikely explanation for these behavioral and cardiovascular findings. The relation of blood volume pulse to affect suggests that an affective process that is not conceptual or perceptual contributes to the mere exposure effect.

Converging indicators for assessing individual differences in adaptation to extreme environments.

It is well known that microgravity results in various physiological alterations, for example, head-ward fluid shifts which can impede physiological adaptation. Other factors that may affect crew operational efficiency include disruption of sleep-wake cycles, high workload, isolation, confinement, stress, and fatigue. From an operational perspective, it is difficult to predict which individuals will be most or least affected in this unique environment given that most astronauts are first-time flyers. During future lunar and Mars missions space crews will include both men and women of multi-national origins, different professional backgrounds, and various states of physical condition. Therefore, new methods or technologies are needed to monitor and predict astronaut performance and health, and to evaluate the effects of various countermeasures on crew during long-duration missions. Herein we describe the development and validation of a new methodology for assessing the deleterious effects of spaceflight on crew health and performance. We reviewed several studies conducted in both laboratory and operational environments with men and women ranging in age between 18 to 50 yr. The studies included the following: soldiers performing command and control functions during mobile operations in enclosed armored vehicles; subjects participating in laboratory tests of an anti-motion sickness medication; subjects exposed to chronic hypergravity aboard a centrifuge; and subject responses to 36-h of sleep deprivation. Physiological measurements, performance metrics, and subjective self-reports were collected in each study. The results demonstrate that multivariate converging indicators provide a significantly more reliable method for assessing environmental effects on performance and health than any single indicator.

Predictors of response to a behavioral treatment in patients with chronic gastric motility disorders.

Chronic gastric motility disorders have proven intractable to most traditional therapies. Twenty-six patients with chronic nausea and vomiting were treated with a behavioral technique, autonomic training (AT) with directed imagery (verbal instructions), to help facilitate physiological control. After treatment, gastrointestinal symptoms decreased by >30% in 58% of the treated patients. We compared those improved patients to the 43% who did not improve significantly. No significant differences existed in baseline symptoms and autonomic measures between both groups. However, baseline measures of gastric emptying and autonomic function predicted treatment outcome. Patients who improved manifested mild to moderate delay in baseline gastric emptying measures. The percent of liquid gastric emptying at 60 mins and the sympathetic adrenergic measure of percent of change in the foot cutaneous blood flow in response to cold stress test predicted improvement in AT outcome, with clinical diagnostic values of 77% and 71%, respectively. We conclude that AT treatment can be efficacious in some patients with impaired gastric emptying and adrenergic dysfunction. More work is warranted to compare biofeedback therapy with gastric motility patients and controls in population-based studies.