Head position during various locomotor executions after prolonged microgravity exposure.
Head orientation in the sagittal plane was assessed before and the second and sixth days after a prolonged microgravity exposure (6 months) in 7 astronauts, which were instructed to execute various locomotor movements (stair ascent, jump down and level walk). Crewmembers systematically flexed down the head when they executed the locomotion the second day post-flight compared to the pre-flight walk. Cephalic orientation was normally positioned when movements was performed the sixth day after Earth re-entry. This head flexion may reflect a strategy used by cosmonauts to increase the vestibular sensibility, and then improve the control of the dynamic equilibrium during locomotor movements. The high rate of re-adaptation indicated that cosmonauts rapidly recovered their normal walking capacities despite the prolonged microgravity exposure.
INSERM Motricity & Plasticity, Universite de Bourgogne, France. gregoire.courtine@u-bourgogne.fr
Gregoire
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Courtine
Thierry
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Pozzo