The ability to locate the limbs without the help of the reaction vision varies with gravity changes. This conclusion was given by scientists from Monas University and German air and physical center. It turns out that in parabolic flights imitating without weight and overload, some types of space feel lost, while others are still stable. The work was published in the Journal of Test Brain Research (EBR).
Propriocument (if not – the feeling of the position) is formed by signals from the receptors in the muscle and joints, as well as the equilibrium organs in the inner ear. It allows us to walk, reach things or just understand where the hand is, if you close your eyes.
The Uve Proste and Bernhard Weber group checked the same sensitive measurement methods with the same gravity. Volunteers performed three types of tasks: combining two hands, just one hand in the position of the other hand or copying the position of the previous memory of the hand.
The result is unexpected. In the conditions of overload, participants are often confused, believing that their hands are more expanded in reality. In no gravity, errors. These deformities have been observed in combination and indications. But the regeneration of the memory of the hand does not depend on gravity.
Scientists believe that some real signals come from muscle axes sensitive to load changes in joints. But there is another channel – memory and central processing of brain signals. He himself is the one who ensures the stability of the feeling even with a gravity change.
The authors note that the results help explain the disorientation of the astronauts. Sometimes in the dark, they lose their feelings in their own hands, can hinder work with the device. The researchers believe that elastic costumes that increase the load on joints can partially restore the sensitivity of the muscle receptors and return the body sensation in the body in the space.