Is Dual-Task Performance Necessarily Impaired in Space?

摘要

Recent single-subject experiments in space have reported impaired dual-task per- formance that could result from either a direct effect of microgravity on the cen- tral nervous system or from the multistressor environment. We sought to distinguish between these hypotheses using 6 astronauts in the l6-day NASA Neurolab mission, testing them at intervals with a dual task consisting of primary pursuit tracking without vision of the hand and secondary reaction time (RT). The participants were highly trained, instructed to maintain a fixed attention strategy, and restrained in the apparatus. The results showed that absolute and variable tracking error, as well as correct RT and the standard deviation of RT were unimpaired. However, RT errors became more variable, an effect attributed to a decrease in strategic control. We conclude that the impairments observed in previous dual-task space experiments can be attributed to stressors rather than to microgravity and that performance deficits are probably not a necessary con- comitant of space flight if attention is paid to task design and astronaut training.