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Coherence between Brain Cortical Function and Neurocognitive Performance during Changed Gravity Conditions
Published on: May 23, 2011
Mental own-body and body-part transformations in microgravity
Luzia Grabherr1, Faisal Karmali, Silvia Bach
1Department of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Summary
Cognitive tasks involving mental transformation of body images are harder in microgravity. Participants showed slower response times and more errors when judging human figures and body parts in space.
Area of Science:
- Human cognition
- Spaceflight physiology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Understanding how altered gravity affects cognitive functions is crucial for space exploration.
- Previous research indicated microgravity does not impact mental rotation of abstract objects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of microgravity on the cognitive ability to mentally transform images of bodies or body parts.
- To compare performance on body-related mental transformations with abstract object mental rotation.
Main Methods:
- Eight participants underwent parabolic flights to experience microgravity.
- Participants performed discrimination judgments on images of human figures and body parts in varying orientations.
- Response times and error rates were recorded and analyzed.
Main Results:
- Participants exhibited increased response times and error rates in microgravity compared to 1g conditions.
- The difficulty of mental transformation tasks involving one's own body or body parts increased in microgravity.
- Body-part stimuli appeared to be more affected by microgravity than whole-body stimuli.
Conclusions:
- Mental transformation of body images is significantly impaired in microgravity.
- This finding contrasts with studies on abstract object mental rotation, suggesting a gravity-dependent effect on body representation.
- The results highlight the unique challenges microgravity poses for embodied cognition.
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