EFFECTS OF MICROGRAVITY ON POSTURAL CONTROL: CONCEPTS PIONEERED BY I.B. KOZLOVSKAYA

Professor Inesa B. Kozlovskaya led a series of multifaceted systematic studies that explored the impact of space flights and ground-based models of microgravity on motor control in humans. Based on data from these studies, she postulated that the cascade of microgravity-induced impairments in postural control is largely associated with deactivation of the muscle tone system. The decrease in tone of antigravity muscles, in turn, is triggered by the deficit and distortion of gravity-specific sensory input from tactile mechanoreceptors and otoliths. Further studies led by Prof. Kozlovskaya demonstrated that the quality of postural control following space flights depends on the type and amount of in-flight physical activity. These fundamental works have elucidated mechanisms through which microgravity impacts motor control and are instrumental in developing advanced countermeasure means of the negative sensorimotor effects caused by space flights.