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Locomotion on the Earth after long-duration space flights as step to locomotion on other celestial bodies

Nataliya Lysova1*, Vladimir Kitov1, Ilya V. Rukavishnikov1, Igor S. Kofman2, Elena S. Tomilovskaya1, Millard F. Reschke2, Inessa Kozlovskaya1, Marissa Rosenberg2, Nikolay Osetsky1 and Elena Fomina1
  • 1 Institute of Biomedical Problems (RAS), Russia
  • 2 Johnson Space Center (NASA), United States

Background. It’s well known that long term exposure to microgravity leads to the deep changes in the activities of sensory systems: semicircular canals, otoliths (Kornilova, 2006), proprioception (Edgerton, 2000) and support afferentation (Kozlovskaya, 2017). These changes affect motor control system and characteristics of voluntary movements: eye -head coordination, space orientation (Lipshits, 1993 ), posture and locomotion (Baroni, 1985). In the future humans will have to stay and work on the surface of other celestial bodies for example Moon or Mars, which may present a challenge due to the adverse effects of long-duration exposure to microgravity and the success of an interplanetary mission will depend on the ability of crew members to perform operations on the surface of space objects. The goal of our study was to gain an in-depth understanding of gravity-related changes in motor control of crewmembers after long-duration space flights (SF) using the Stepping Over Obstacle test. Methods. Our paper presents biomechanical characteristics of locomotion of five Russian cosmonauts (men, age 42±5 years; mass: 81± 5 kg) that performed space missions of 115 – 196 days in duration aboard the International Space Station. We used two difference systems in our experiment: video motion analysis «Videoanalyzer Biosoft 3D hardware/software» («NMF BIOSOFT», Russia) and the movement monitoring system of Opal miniature inertial measurement units (IMUs) by APDM, Inc. (Portland, OR). During the test each cosmonaut had to walk at a self-selected speed and stepped over the obstacles of 5, 10 ,15 and 30 cm high. We calculated toe-obstacle clearance, the length of the step (defined as the horizontal distance between toe raising and heel strike leading limb) and joint motion in the hip, knee and ankle joints. The angular amplitude of joints was calculated as the difference between the maximum and the minimum of the angle The data were collected 60-30 days before SF and on post-flight during first hour after landing and day 3, 4, 7 and 12 after SF accomplishment. Results The toe-obstacle clearance for the 5 cm obstacle during the first hour after the landing decreased significantly compared with the preflight results (p≤0,05). However this parameter didn’t change compared with BDC on day 3, 4, 7 and 12 after SF (fig. 1).For the 10 and 15 cm obstacle, the results were the same. Fig. 1. The step length decreased significantly that during the first hour after the landing compared with the preflight results for the 5, 10, 15 cm obstacle (p≤0,03). On day 4 this parameter decreased significant only for the 5 cm obstacle (p≤0,05).On day 7 and 12 the step length did not change (fig. 2). Fig. 2. Angular amplitude in the hip joint on the day 3 after landing significantly decreased compared with the pre-flight level for the 5 (19,4±11,9%), 10 (15,3±7%), 30 (8,3±2,9%) cm obstacle The same changes were registered for the knee joint for 5 cm obstacle angular amplitude decreased by 12,7±8,7%, for the 10 cm obstacle – 6,4±3%, for 30 cm obstacle – 8,8±5,1%. For the ankle joint the results were also the same. For 5 cm obstacle angular amplitude decreased by 11,4±8,2%, for the 10 cm obstacle – 11,5±10,4%, for 30 cm obstacle – 12,5±9,1%. Discussion In our research it was shown that the first hours of recovery after SF are characterized by the changes in the motor task Stepping Over Obstacle characteristics. The toe-obstacle clearance and the length of step decreased significantly compared with pre-flight results for the obstacle 5, 10 and 15 cm. We hypothesize that these changes can be induced by vestibular and sensorimotor disorders and muscle atrophy. No significant changes in the toe-obstacle clearance on the day 3 after landing compared with pre-flight level for all the obstacles. The length of step was significantly decreased only for the 5 cm obstacle on the day 4 after landing. These alterations of the toe-obstacle clearance and length of step in recovered almost fully on the day 3-4 after SF. Our study revealed that the range of motion of every joint examined at the above 3 obstacle heights was reduced after long-duration spaceflights. This corresponds to previous observations indicating a decrease in the angular amplitude of joints during walking (Shpakov, 2013). We hypothesize that these changes can be induced by lower muscle contractility (Le Blank, 1995). Another factor responsible for motion range changes can be a decline in muscle tone following long-duration space missions. It was reported that after exposure to real or simulated microgravity of muscle tone, particularly of shin extensors, was reduced (Kozlovskaya, 2017). It can be concluded that changes in multi -sensory integration following long-duration exposure to microgravity produced a significant effect in the test of Stepping Over Obstacle performance during the first hour after landing.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Russian Academy of Sciences (project 63.1).

References

1. Kornilova, L.N., Temnikova, V.V., Alekhina, M.I., Naumov, I.A., Borovikova, V.P., Iakushev, A.G. et. al. (2006) Effect of long-term microgravity on the vestibular function. Aviakosm Ekolog Med. 6, 12-16. 2. Edgerton, V.R., Roy, R.R., Recktenwald, M.R., Hodgson, J.A., Grindeland, R.E., Kozlovskaya, I.D. (2000). Neural and neuroendocrine adaptations to microgravity and ground-based models of microgravity. J. of Gravit. Physiol. 3, 45–52. 3. Kozlovskaya, I.B. (2017) Gravity and postural-tonic motor system, Aviakosm. Ecol. Med. 51, 5-21. 4. Lipshits, M.I., Gurfinkel', E.V., Matsakis, Y., Lestienne, F.(1993) The effect of weightlessness on sensorimotor interaction during operator activity: visual feedback. Motor response latency time. Aviakosm. Ecol. Med. 27, 22-25. 5. Baroni, G., Pedrocchi, A., Ferrigno, G., Massion, J., Pedotti, A. (1985) Static and dynamic postural control in long-term microgravity: evidence of a dual adaptation. J Appl Physiol. 1, 205-215. 6. Shpakov, A.V., Voronov, A.V., Fomina, E.V., Lysova, N. Iu., Chernova M.V, Kozlovskaya, I.B. (2013) Comparative analysis of the efficacy of different patterns of locomotion training in long-duration spaceflights based on biomechanical and electromyographical characteristics of human gait. Fiziol. Cheloveka.2, 60-69. 7. LeBlanc, A., Rowe, R., Schneider, V., Evans, H., Hedrick, T. (1995) Regional muscle loss after short duration spaceflight. Aviat Space Environ. Med. 66, 1151-1154.

Keywords: Space Flight, Locomotion, motor control, Microgravity (μg), Stepping over an obstacle

Conference: 39th ISGP Meeting & ESA Life Sciences Meeting, Noordwijk, Netherlands, 18 Jun - 22 Jun, 2018.

Presentation Type: Extended abstract

Topic: Bones and Muscles

Citation: Lysova N, Kitov V, Rukavishnikov IV, Kofman IS, Tomilovskaya ES, Reschke MF, Kozlovskaya I, Rosenberg M, Osetsky N and Fomina E (2019). Locomotion on the Earth after long-duration space flights as step to locomotion on other celestial bodies. Front. Physiol. Conference Abstract: 39th ISGP Meeting & ESA Life Sciences Meeting. doi: 10.3389/conf.fphys.2018.26.00007

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Received: 02 Dec 2018; Published Online: 16 Jan 2019.

* Correspondence: Dr. Nataliya Lysova, Institute of Biomedical Problems (RAS), Moscow, Russia, cehbr@list.ru