Short Title:
Adaptation and Resilience NSCOR
Responsible HRP Element:
Human Factors and Behavioral Performance
Funding Status:
Active - Currently funded and in progress
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Procurement Mechanism(s):
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Aims:
The overarching goal of this proposal is to characterize the three less well-understood NIMH RDoC domains related to positive valence, negative valence, and social processes as they relate to the performance, adaptation, and resilience of individuals living and working in ICC/ICE environments. The investigator team will identify predictive indicators and biomarkers for resilience and adaptation in individuals and teams, to aid in astronaut selection and individualized countermeasure development with the goal to maintain and optimize performance capability and behavioral health during long-duration exploration missions (LDEM).
The specific aims of this study are:
Aim 1: Identify and quantify individual differences in adaptation and resilience, key threats to and promoters of mission relevant behavioral health and performance. The investigator team will use components of the RDoC framework to look across individual risk factors in order to identify and validate molecular, circuitry and physiological measures that can be used for monitoring and selection of individuals who are highly resilient to the key behavioral health and performance threats during autonomous, long duration and/or long distance exploration missions.
Aim 1a. Perform a comprehensive literature review of the RDoC framework to identify the units of analysis (e.g., cells, etc.) of the individual risk factors most related to LDEMs and positive valence, negative valence and social processes domains.
Aim 1b. Identify how the risk factors within those three RDoC domains relate to performance outcomes, resiliency, and adaptation in LDEMs.
Aim 2: Identify neural circuits and molecular/cellular mechanisms underlying adaptation and resilience in a rodent model using cross-species equivalency.
Aim 3: Encompasses the biological basis of social support to assess individual sociability and the neurobehavioral contributions to resiliency and/or adaptability of engaging positively in social interactions, tolerance, and awareness (e.g., affiliation, attachment).
Aim 4: Identify how meaningful work mediates the relationship between risk factors, the valence and social process domains, and operational outcomes, as well as direct effects of meaningful work on performance. The intent is to identify a sensitive, reliable, valid, and feasible set of measures for measuring and monitoring meaningfulness of work in spaceflight.
Aim 4a. An additional aim and
primary objective was added to assess the effects of plant growth and fresh
food on behavioral health in an isolated, confinement and extreme (ICE)
environment using the Neumayer III Station of Antarctica. The specific aim is
to identify the research participant’s experiences growing plants and
vegetables and the availability of fresh food using a series of self-reported
measures related to meaningful work and to relate terrestrial research results
to those of the ISS-Veggie project.
Aim 5: Encompasses the need to identify how positive and negative valence systems impact on psychological well-being and performance when confronted with the adverse conditions found in prolonged space flight. We will identify biomarkers and psychological report measures associated with the effects of well-being on performance and determine their contribution to the positive/negative valence systems involved in individual adaptation and resilience.
Ground Analog Resources
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Ground-Based Flight Analogs
- Controlled Research Analog, Short Duration (2 months or less) – isolated and confined with spaceflight mission scenario [e.g., HERA, NEEMO]
- ICE Field Analog, Long Duration (4 months or more) – isolated, confined and extreme; may not have spaceflight mission scenario [e.g., Antarctica]
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| Number of Subjects
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50
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Category:
Countermeasure
Subcategory:
Protocol
Description:
Final report summarizing research efforts including: individual risk factors most associated with positive valence, negative valence, and social process domains, and how they relate to performance, adaptation, and resilience. In addition, results aims to include: evidence on how fluctuations in work meaningfulness, changes in the physical environment, the degree of sociability, and other external factors such as food, mediate the relationship between risk factors and outcomes.
a. Supplemental work will include a report on Aim 4a., above, related to the
Veggie on ICE research at Neumayer III Station: A report
analysis comparing
the veggie survey and other behavioral health and performance data collected as
part of the “NSCOR for Evaluating Risk Factors and Biomarkers for Adaptation
and Resilience to Spaceflight: Emotional Valence and Social Processes in
ICC/ICE Environments.”
Internal Customers:
Human Factors and Behavioral Performance
External Customers:
None
Category:
Risk Characterization, Quantification
Subcategory:
Evidence or Risk Characterization
Description:
A better understanding of the key threats, indicators, and evolution of the team throughout its life cycle for autonomous, long duration and/or distance exploration missions; psychological measures that can be used to select individuals most likely to maintain team function for autonomous, long duration and/or distance exploration missions;.
Internal Customers:
Human Factors and Behavioral Performance
External Customers:
None
Category:
Study Results
Subcategory:
Customer Requested Study or Analysis
Description:
Sensitive, reliable, and valid measures that are feasible in the context of spaceflight for assessing relevant constructs including adaptability, emotional regulation, sociability, meaningfulness of work, and personal well-being.
Internal Customers:
Human Factors and Behavioral Performance
External Customers:
None