Funding Status:
Completed - Task completed and produced a deliverable
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Procurement Mechanism(s):
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Aims:
Introduction
There is currently no operational analog of post-flight sensorimotor effects, and the primary aim of this project is to deliver such a system to facilitate the sensorimotor risk assessments as well as for crew training and countermeasure development. To this end, this project has developed a prototype ambulatory system that generates a reversible sensorimotor deficit. The system uses Galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS), which modulates afferent vestibular input with a pseudorandom current delivered via surface electrodes placed on the skin behind each ear. The GVS analog has been designed such that the sensorimotor perturbation delivered accurately reproduces postural, locomotor, gaze and perceptual deficits observed in astronauts following short- and long-duration missions, without inducing significant motion sickness symptoms. The goal of this project is to develop the GVS analog to operational readiness for use in e.g. crew training, or for use in ground-based assessments of cockpit displays and human machine interfaces.
Specific Aims
1) Determine how well GVS is tolerated, and what are the optimal parameters for a single exposure to the GVS analog.
2) Determine how well the GVS analog impacts piloting performance.
3) Determine the long-term response to GVS, e.g. do subjects habituate to recurrent exposure over a year.
Methods
Subjects are exposed to various levels GVS and perform sensorimotor, cognitive and piloting tasks.
How task will fill or partially fill the gap
This research will produce an optimized GVS training program for use in astronaut training.