The Effects of Long Duration Spaceflight on Sensorimotor Control and Cognition

Astronauts returning from spaceflight typically show transient declines in mobility and balance. Other sensorimotor behaviors and cognitive function have not been investigated as much. Here, we tested whether spaceflight affects performance on various sensorimotor and cognitive tasks during and afte...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in neural circuits 2021-10, Vol.15, p.723504-723504
Main Authors: Tays, Grant D, Hupfeld, Kathleen E, McGregor, Heather R, Salazar, Ana Paula, De Dios, Yiri Eleana, Beltran, Nichole E, Reuter-Lorenz, Patricia A, Kofman, Igor S, Wood, Scott J, Bloomberg, Jacob J, Mulavara, Ajitkumar P, Seidler, Rachael D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accuracy
Adaptation
Age
Astronauts
Balance
Behavior
Cognition
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive ability
Coordination
Feet
Gender differences
Gravity
Humans
Investigations
Mars
Microgravity
Mobility
Neural Circuits
Posture
sensorimotor
Sensorimotor system
Space Flight
spaceflight
Tactile stimuli
Time Factors
Vestibular system
Weightlessness
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Summary:Astronauts returning from spaceflight typically show transient declines in mobility and balance. Other sensorimotor behaviors and cognitive function have not been investigated as much. Here, we tested whether spaceflight affects performance on various sensorimotor and cognitive tasks during and after missions to the International Space Station (ISS). We obtained mobility (Functional Mobility Test), balance (Sensory Organization Test-5), bimanual coordination (bimanual Purdue Pegboard), cognitive-motor dual-tasking and various other cognitive measures (Digit Symbol Substitution Test, Cube Rotation, Card Rotation, Rod and Frame Test) before, during and after 15 astronauts completed 6 month missions aboard the ISS. We used linear mixed effect models to analyze performance changes due to entering the microgravity environment, behavioral adaptations aboard the ISS and subsequent recovery from microgravity. We observed declines in mobility and balance from pre- to post-flight, suggesting disruption and/or down weighting of vestibular inputs; these behaviors recovered to baseline levels within 30 days post-flight. We also identified bimanual coordination declines from pre- to post-flight and recovery to baseline levels within 30 days post-flight. There were no changes in dual-task performance during or following spaceflight. Cube rotation response time significantly improved from pre- to post-flight, suggestive of practice effects. There was also a trend for better in-flight cube rotation performance on the ISS when crewmembers had their feet in foot loops on the "floor" throughout the task. This suggests that tactile inputs to the foot sole aided orientation. Overall, these results suggest that sensory reweighting due to the microgravity environment of spaceflight affected sensorimotor performance, while cognitive performance was maintained. A shift from exocentric (gravity) spatial references on Earth toward an egocentric spatial reference may also occur aboard the ISS. Upon return to Earth, microgravity adaptions become maladaptive for certain postural tasks, resulting in transient sensorimotor performance declines that recover within 30 days.
ISSN:1662-5110
1662-5110
DOI:10.3389/fncir.2021.723504