A Review of Adaptive Change in Musculoskeletal Impedance during Space Flight and Associated Implications for Postflight Head Movement Control

Issue title: Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on the Head/Neck System

Article type: Research Article

Authors: McDonald, P. Vernon^{a; *} | Bloomberg, Jacob J.^b | Layne, Charles S.^a

Affiliations: [a] KRUG Life Sciences, Houston Texas | [b] Space Biomedical Research Institute, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas

Note: [*] Reprint address: Vernon McDonald, KRUG Life Sciences, 1290 Hercules Drive, Suite 120, Houston TX 77058-2769 USA. E-mail: vmcdonald@sdmail.jsc.nasa.gov.

Abstract: We present a review of converging sources of evidence which suggest that the differences between loading histories experienced in 1-g and weightlessness are sufficient to stimulate adaptation in mechanical impedance of the musculoskeletal system. As a consequence of this adaptive change we argue that we should observe changes in the ability to attenuate force transmission through the musculoskeletal system both during and after space flight. By focusing attention on the relation between human sensorimotor activity and support surfaces, the importance of controlling mechanical energy flow through the musculoskeletal system is demonstrated. The implications of such control are discussed in light of visual–vestibular function in the specific context of head and gaze control during postflight locomotion. Evidence from locomotory biomechanics, visual–vestibular function, ergonomic evaluations of human vibration, and specific investigations of locomotion and head and gaze control after space flight, is considered.

Keywords: human performance, vestibular system, gaze, locomotion

DOI: 10.3233/VES-1997-72-311

Journal: Journal of Vestibular Research, vol. 7, no. 2-3, pp. 239-250, 1997