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Related Experiment Videos

The face inversion effect in microgravity: is gravity used as a spatial reference for complex object recognition?

S de Schonen1, G Leone, M Lipshits

  • 1Centre for Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, CNRS, Marseille, France.

Acta Astronautica
|September 7, 2001
PubMed
Summary

The face inversion effect, a common recognition difficulty, persists in space (0-G). This indicates that gravity is not essential for this effect, though learning faces in space is harder.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Human Spaceflight

Background:

  • Object recognition is orientation-dependent, notably for faces.
  • The 'inversion effect' describes impaired face recognition when upside down.
  • The role of gravity versus egocentric/retinocentric references in this effect was unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if gravity or body/retinal orientation is the spatial reference for the face inversion effect.
  • To investigate the impact of microgravity on face recognition.

Main Methods:

  • Three astronauts learned faces on Earth and recognized them on Earth and in space (0-G).
  • Additional faces were learned and recognized in space.
  • Face recognition accuracy and reaction times were measured.

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Main Results:

  • The face inversion effect was observed both on Earth and in space, regardless of learning condition.
  • Persistence of the inversion effect in 0-G demonstrates gravity is not the spatial reference.
  • Face learning and recognition were significantly impaired when learning occurred in space compared to on Earth.

Conclusions:

  • Gravity is not the spatial reference for the face inversion effect.
  • The findings suggest gravity may play a role in configural processing, but not the inversion effect itself.
  • Spaceflight conditions negatively impact face learning and recognition.