Behavioral Adaptation to Space Flight
Michael Barratt
Aerospace Medicine Grand Rounds 25 Oct 2011
Disclaimers and Caveats
I am not a psychologist or cognitive scientist
More an onsite naturalist
This is Level III (case report) and Level IV
(learned opinion) evidence
This topic is fueled by and riddled with
anecdotal reports
Behavioral Maladaptation
Space Flight Behavioral Adaptation
Working Definition
The behavioral and cognitive patterns and
strategies that develop over time to cope with
the physical condition of microgravity to
enable efficient and effective performance.
These are both deliberate and subconscious
Largely based on perception of physical
stimuli
Psychophysics* for Zero-g
* A discipline within psychology that
quantitatively investigates the relationship
between physical stimuli and the sensations
and perceptions they effect.
Gustav Theodor
Fechner
1801 –1887
German psychologist,
Founder of
Psychophysics
Distribution of Relevant Literature
- Spatial orientation and perception
- Sensori-motor alterations and deficits
- Cognitive alterations and deficits
Focus for today is on adaptation related to
human performance in flight
Key References for Further Study
Oman C. Spatial Orientation and Navigation
in Microgravity. In “Spatial Processing in
Navigation, Imagery, and Perception” Fred W. Mast,
Lutz Jäncke, editors. PP. 209-248 Springer
Science + Business Media, LLC. 2010
Clément G. Using Your Head: Cognition and
Sensorimotor Functions in Microgravity.
Gravitational and Space Biology, Volume 20, Number 2 June
2007 Pp 65-78
A Public Perspective
“The psychological challenges of space travel
are also considerable because simple acts
like eating, crossing the room or going to the
bathroom can suddenly become incredibly
difficult.”
2 Aug 2010 NPR Interview with Mary Roach,
author of Packing for Mars: The Curious
Science of Life in the Void. W.W. Norton and
Company
Space Flight Anxiety Points
First potty use, numbers 1 and 2
First meal
First exercise session
Comm with ground
First PAO event
Managing items, timeline, procedures
Lather / Rinse / Repeat qDay x 180
Points of Psycho- Physical
Adaptation
Specifically tied to human performance:
Spatial orientation / awareness
Locomotion and Navigation
Body Restraint
Mass Handling
Mass Discrimination
Artificial Gravity
Zero Gravity Item Management
Adaptive Parameter
Transition (from / to); endpoints that
serve as metrics of behavioral
adaptation
- Most are observational
- Could be assessed by observer or
individual
Strategies / Training
Spatial Orientation Background factoids
The ISS maintains a definitive vertical
reference in most modules
Vast majority of time in LVLH attitude –
gives sense of reference wrt earth
Extensive ground training in mockups
cements notion of local vertical inflight
Spatial Orientation
Transition from 2D to 3D awareness
Near complete reliance on vision
Rapid transitions between reference
frames (quicker to break out of vertical when
most convenient to work that way)
More ‘egocentric’, less ‘allocentric’
Locomotion
Transition from upright to horizontal (for
distance)
Transition from feet to hands
Soft T/O and landings
Loss of ‘lofting’ tendency
Speed increases
Changing body cg (tuck / extend, bend)
Strategies/Training: slow at first please!
Memorization of translation paths
Body Restraint
Transition from ‘white knuckle’, multiple
points of contact to light, single or dual
poc.
Works in neutral body posture
Anticipation of work envelope
Anticipation of force to be exerted
Mass Handling
Transition from carrying in hands to grasping
in feet
Cmass of object and Cmass of subject both
along vector of motion
Transition from single to multiple objects
Handling more massive objects singlehandedly
Ernst Heinrich
Weber
(1795 – 1878)
German
physician
Weber’s Law
Just Noticeable
Differences
(JND)
Koichi Wakata
(1963 – Present)
A Newtonian mass on
an oscillating spring
system
Russian Mass
Measurement
Device
Mass Discrimination
Transition to accurate determination of an
object’s mass by its inertial properties
Back and forth hand motion emulates the
oscillating spring system
Done for payload transfer, judging
consumables in a container, residuals in food
packets, etc
Metric easily explored with JND experiments.
Mass Discrimination
Examined by Ross et al. in early Shuttle flights
Threshold for mass discrimination increased by
about 1.8
Increased acceleration enhanced mass
discrimination but compromised mass
determination
Concluded that humans less sensitive to inertial
mass than weight, and that adaptation does not
correct
Maximum flight duration 10 days
Managing Items
Transition from multiple object losses to
none (floaters)
Awareness of where multiple items
stowed (habit patterns)
Minimal restraint necessary
Placing object in space with minimal
residual momentum
Training: instructional videos preflight,
mentorship inflight
Item management
in zero-g
Artificial Gravity
(Localized Centripetal Force)
Full body rotation for air-fluid separation
Requires rapid foot repositioning
and precise body control
Transition to use of induced A/G for
handling of small parts, fluids
Swinging a partial arc
Learned over time, an ‘advanced skill’
Using Pyschometric Parameters and
Milestones
Training: emphasis on reinforcing the
visual (mockups, video of onboard, VR)
Crew cognitive understanding of the
milestones and endpoints
Start practicing strategies earlier
Performance metrics for further study
Using Pyschometric Parameters and
Milestones
Influences crew hardware and
interfaces, tendency toward simplicity:
Restraints
Containers for piece parts
Hardware interfaces (clever
handles and latches not always needed)
Overall Physiologic Response
“Space Stupids” or “Space Brain”
Space Fog, Space Stupids, or Space Brain
Term coined by U.S. astronauts in anecdotal
reports
Describes diminished ability to perform tasks for
which they have trained and prepared, or other
simple tasks
Crew reports of increased errors, altered time
awareness, checklists must be followed more
meticulously, crew redundancy for critical steps
needed
Tends to be reported by short duration crew
“Space Fog” or “Space Brain”
Literature on Cognitive Performance in Space
- Casler JG, Cook JR. Cognitive Performance in Space and Analogous
Environments. International Journal of Cognitive Ergonomics, 1999, 3(4), 351372. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Surveyed 29 studies, cataloged by 6 cognitive measures.
Response time
Memory
Reasoning
Pattern recognition
Fine motor skills
- Human Performance. In: Kanas, N; Manzey, D. Space Psychology and
Psychiatry. Published jointly by Microcosm Press, El Segundo, CA, and
Springer, The Netherlands 2008 pp. 49-88
Considered most of these and a few subsequent studies
“Space Fog” or “Space Brain”
Cognitive Performance in Space Flight
Casler and Cook: Showed minimal cognitive impairments. Minor deficits in
pattern recognition, fine motor skills, and dual task performance, resolves
within 3 weeks.
“Whether this cognitive adaptation period correlates to the physiological
adaptation process time line cannot be stated at this point.”
Kanas and Manzey: Basic cognitive processes such as grammatical
reasoning and memory search do not seem to be impaired or “can be fully
compensated by the increased efforts of the astronaut.”
Higher cognitive demand functions, such as tracking performance and dualtask interference, show minor decrements that correlate with findings of
visuo-motor and attentional disturbances of adaptation. These seem to
resolve within a few weeks.
“Space Fog” or “Space Brain”
Astronauts’ Perception of Space Fog is based on the
delta of task execution between two venues:
TRAINING: well rested, prepared and task-focused, low pressure, implications of
mistakes minimal, quiet, Starbucks in hand
FLIGHT: acute phase adaptation, +/- SMS, +/- circadian desynchrony, learning
curve for stowage and retrieval, comm with ground, other crew activity in small
confines, working in 2nd language, implications of mistake accentuated, etc.
“..Shuttle and ISS crewmembers have
typically performed their tasks with
distinction, despite any experiences with
space they may have had, an undoubted testament to their abilities and
high degree of training. Further, the
reports of serious cognitive disruption from
space fog conflict with the relatively minor
(or no) deficits observed when crewmembers are measured on wellestablished cognitive tests.”
“Nevertheless, …. the fact that performance
decrements on highly perfected tasks have
rarely been observed (or at least reported)
does not mean that cognitive deficits do not
occur, posing a potentially serious threat to
both mission and astronaut.”
Welch RB, Hoover M, Southward EF. Cognitive performance during prismatic
displacement as a partial analogue of "space fog". Aviat Space Environ Med.
2009 Sep;80(9):771-80
Space Fog in Summary
Self-perceived decrement in performance of tasks
reported in SDF.
Correlates temporally with acute physiologic and
behavioral adaptation to spaceflight, as well as
minor decrements in cognitive performance, both of
which largely resolve within 3 – 4 weeks.
“Sensory saturation”, task distraction at work
Seems to be more associated with Shuttle flight than
with Soyuz, perhaps due to increased complexity
and workload as well as increased internal volume
Functionally and practically, cognitive
impairment is not a hallmark of spaceflight
In the new era of long duration flight, its
reporting will most likely diminish