Zero gravity induced by parabolic flight enhances automatic capture and weakens voluntary maintenance of visuospatial attention

Orienting attention in the space around us is a fundamental prerequisite for willed actions. On Earth, at 1 g, orienting attention requires the integration of vestibular signals and vision, although the specific vestibular contribution to voluntary and automatic components of visuospatial attention...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:NPJ microgravity 2021-07, Vol.7 (1), p.29-29, Article 29
Main Authors: Salatino, Adriana, Iacono, Claudio, Gammeri, Roberto, Chiadò, Stefano T., Lambert, Julien, Sulcova, Dominika, Mouraux, André, George, Mark S., Roberts, Donna R., Berti, Anna, Ricci, Raffaella
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/378
631/477/2811
692/1807/1693
Accuracy
Applied Microbiology
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biotechnology
Classical and Continuum Physics
Flight
Immunology
Life Sciences
Rehabilitation
Space Exploration and Astronautics
Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics
Validity
Vestibular system
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Summary:Orienting attention in the space around us is a fundamental prerequisite for willed actions. On Earth, at 1 g, orienting attention requires the integration of vestibular signals and vision, although the specific vestibular contribution to voluntary and automatic components of visuospatial attention remains largely unknown. Here, we show that unweighting of the otolith organ in zero gravity during parabolic flight, selectively enhances stimulus-driven capture of automatic visuospatial attention, while weakening voluntary maintenance of covert attention. These findings, besides advancing our comprehension of the basic influence of the vestibular function on voluntary and automatic components of visuospatial attention, may have operational implications for the identification of effective countermeasures to be applied in forthcoming human deep space exploration and habitation, and on Earth, for patients’ rehabilitation.
ISSN:2373-8065
2373-8065
DOI:10.1038/s41526-021-00159-3