QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF ARM MOTION IN GRAVITY VARIATION

摘要

Previous studies about sensorimotor coordination suggest that human performance depends on perception, decision and execution of the decided responses (Bock, 1998). The performance depends on difficulty but also on the allocation of the brain's computational resources allocated to the task (Bock and al., 2003). The first goal of the experiment was to study the effect of microgravity on cognitive function, comparing the time allocated for selective response task during parabolic flights and in normal gravity. The second aim of this study was to compare the precision of movement using the Fitt's law as theoretical basis. The four healthy subjects were secured in a seat in front of the "table of experiment". The three paradigms used were Reaction time, Choice Reaction time and Precision of Movement. The results show significant differences between the time of movement between all the phase but the first and the last phase. A short adaptation period allows Reaction time to be consistent in different gravitational environment. The reaction time and the time of movement recorded both on Earth and during parabolic flights show a similar trend for the different phases (fig.3).