November 3, 2011
Dear Colleague:
We are pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the Eighth Symposium on the Role of the Vestibular
Organs in Space Exploration, to be held at the Sheraton Suites Galleria in Houston, Texas, April 9–10,
2011. The Vestibular Symposium is a satellite meeting of the IAA Humans in Space Symposium, which
begins the following day, and is sponsored by the NASA Human Research Program and the National
Space Biomedical Research Institute Sensorimotor Adaptation Team.
Abstracts (250 words) for platform or poster presentations are due by December 8, 2010. Acceptance
notifications will be sent out by January 19, 2011.
Abstract submission information, registration, and logistical information may be found on the symposium
website:
http://www.dsls.usra.edu/meetings/IAA/vestibular/
This international specialists’ meeting builds on the success of previous symposia held in Portland (2002)
and Noordwijk (2006). It focuses on the sensoriomotor challenges encountered in space, and
countermeasures for them, emphasizing spaceflight as an essential laboratory environment for scientific
study of vestibular/sensorimotor function. The meeting targets young as well as established physicians
and scientists interested in basic and applied aspects of sensorimotor function in space. Meeting topics
include challenges of missions to asteroids and Mars; prostheses; artificial gravity; countermeasures,
including training; neurophysiology; neuroanatomy and neurotransmitter systems; autonomic function;
radiation effects; adaptation; rehabilitation; suborbital spaceflight; functional imaging; motion cues; spatial
disorientation; spatial memory; motor integration; gaze; posture and locomotion; motion sickness; and
pharmacology. In a special session, astronauts and flight surgeons will summarize and prioritize
operational medical problems on exploration-class missions. A Friday afternoon poster session and
reception and a Saturday evening dinner are also planned. Abstracts and selected papers will be
published in special issues of the Journal of Vestibular Research.
We hope you will join us!
Sincerely,
Charles M. Oman, Ph.D., Organizing Committee Chair
F. Owen Black, M.D., Program Committee Chair
William F. Paloski, PhD.
Laurence R. Young, Sc.D.