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Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program (2000)

Chapter: 9 Behavior and Performance

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Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
×

9
Behavior and Performance

INTRODUCTION

The NASA Research Agenda for the International Space Station (NASA, 1998c) includes the following two questions: (1) how do microgravity and the space environment affect human behavior and performance, and (2) how can we enhance human performance in spaceflight? The inclusion of these questions in the ISS research agenda represents a substantial increase in emphasis on human behavior and performance in space among the biomedical research programs funded and supported by NASA. As noted in the Strategy report (NRC, 1998), studies conducted in ground-based analogue settings, as well as NASA’s experience on the Shuttle Mir Space Program (SMSP), have provided ample evidence of significantly impaired psychosocial adaptation in space.

NASA’s current efforts in the area of behavior and performance involve two different multidisciplinary approaches: psychosocial-neurobehavioral and human factors engineering. Each approach is represented by one of two different administrative units within the Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications, with overlapping spheres of interest, authority, and expertise: Space Human Factors Engineering (SHFE) and Behavior and Performance (BP). Although both approaches are concerned with understanding factors that influence human performance during spaceflight and the development of countermeasures to enhance performance, this chapter addresses only the psychosocial-neurobehavioral approach.

The Strategy report identified two major priorities for research on psychological and social issues in long-duration spaceflight. First, research should be conducted on the neurobiological (circadian, endocrine) and psychosocial (individual, group, organizational) mechanisms underlying the effects of physical (microgravity, hazards) and psychosocial (isolation, confinement) environmental stressors on cognitive, affective, and psychophysiological measures of behavior and performance. The report identified five sets of issues for which research was required: environmental, psychophysiological, individual, interpersonal, and organizational. Such research should be interdisciplinary and conducted in ground-based analogue settings as well as in flight. Second, the efficacy of existing countermeasures (screening and selection, training, monitoring, support) should be determined. Such countermeasure

Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
×

development, testing, and validation would include studies of the use of psychophysiological measures in the implementation of these countermeasures and of the effects of microgravity on the kinetics and efficacy of pharmacologic medications. Where existing countermeasures are found to be ineffective, new countermeasures should be developed that contribute to optimal levels of crew performance, individual well-being, and mission success. These recommendations are described in more detail in Appendix A.

NASA’S CURRENT RESEARCH PROGRAM IN BEHAVIOR AND PERFORMANCE

According to estimates provided by NASA, NRA funding for research on behavior and performance accounted for a total of $4.8 million in FY 1999, including an FY 1999 augmentation of $1.3 million for new projects (Table 9.1). This ranks among the various disciplines as the second highest in funding and in number of projects. Within the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), additional funding (much of it provided by NASA) for behavior and performance research amounted to approximately $1 million in FY 1999. There are 19 projects with FY 1999 funding that involve research on behavior and performance; 14 were funded under the auspices of a NASA Research Announcement (NRA), and 5 were funded through NSBRI. Of the 14 FY 1999 projects funded in response to an NRA, 10 projects were under the direction of other extramural investigators and 4 were under the direction of NSBRI investigators.

Many of the behavior and performance projects with FY 1999 funding involve studies that address issues identified in the Strategy report. Issues related to sleep and circadian rhythms were addressed by the greatest number (11 projects), followed by issues related to neurovestibular functioning (6 projects). Collectively, sleep and circadian rhythms and neurovestibular function were the primary emphases of 17 of the 19 behavior and performance projects with FY 1999 funding. In FY 1999, perception and

TABLE 9.1 Summary of FY 1999 Funding for Behavior and Performance Subdisciplines

 

NRA

 

NSBRI

 

Subdiscipline

Total ($)

No. of Projects

Total ($)

No. of Projects

Environmental issues

0

0

0

0

Psychophysiological issues

2,258,194

9

1,013,760

5

Sleep, circadian

1,498,805

6

1,013,760

5

Human physical performancea

759,389

3

0

0

Stress and emotion

0

0

0

0

Individual

1,026,000

4

0

0

Psychological issuesb

1,026,000

4

0

0

Psychiatric issues

0

0

0

0

Interpersonal issues

223,000

1

0

0

Organizational issues

0

0

0

0

Subtotal

3,507,194

14

1,013,760

5

New tasks

1,276,840

Total

4,784,034

aThis area was not specified as a high priority in the Strategy report.

bAll of these projects pertain to perception and cognition.

Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
×

cognition and group dynamics were the focus of one project each. Most of these projects are ground based. None of the FY 1999 projects appear to involve the use of animals.

In addition to funded research projects, several operational studies in the area of behavior and performance have been planned by medical operations personnel at Johnson Space Center (JSC), and one has been initiated. These include a select-in validation study for long-duration flight; a critical task analysis for on-orbit performance assessment; an individualized workload limits monitoring system; a fatigue monitoring system; a Phase III chamber protocol to evaluate operational methodologies and hardware for sleep monitoring in simulated ISS activities; data collection on sleep medication efficacy, sleep quality, and pharmacodynamic assessment of “PRN” (i.e., as needed) medications during spaceflight; and the development of a Spaceflight Fatigue Assessment Test, Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Test, and Spaceflight Behavioral Assessment Test. Apart from the cognitive assessment test, which has been certified for ISS, all of these projects are unfunded and remain in the planning stages.

Some behavioral research has also been conducted at NASA Ames Research Center. Two of the 38 projects listed in the FY 1998 Life Sciences Task Book were devoted to ARC-based studies of neurovestibular adaptation during spaceflight (NASA, 1999). None of the projects funded for FY 1999 appear to be based at Ames Research Center (ARC).

With respect to the five discipline areas identified in the Strategy report, current research efforts are most responsive to the psychophysiological issues listed as priority areas. One-third of the projects listed under behavior and performance in FY 1999 respond to the need for ground-based and in-flight studies of sleep architecture during long-duration missions, including predictors of change in sleep quality and quantity; whether sleep deprivation is cumulative; how much sleep debt is necessary to produce an overall impairment of cognitive performance, mood, and interpersonal behavior; and whether reductions in sleep debt are associated with improved performance. These projects account for 60 percent of all funding (NRA and NSBRI) allocated for behavior and performance in FY 1999. Several currently-funded projects have focused on the development and implementation of psychophysiological instrumentation for the assessment of behavior and performance in flight. Most of the currently funded studies of neurovestibular function examine change and stability in individual physiological patterns in response to microgravity, and a few examine the applicability of measures of neurovestibular function to measures of behavior and performance in flight. However, it is unclear whether any of these studies have focused on change and stability in individual neurovestibular patterns as described in the Strategy report. Furthermore, none of these studies have focused on physiological responses to psychosocial stressors.

In contrast to psychophysiological issues, none of the currently funded projects explicitly address organizational issues identified in the Strategy report, including the influence of organizational culture and mission duration on behavior and performance and the requirements for effective management of long-duration missions as they relate to task scheduling and timing and to distribution of authority and decision making. Lessons learned under actual field conditions in analogue settings (e.g., polar expeditions, military operations) suggest that these issues are likely to be among the most operationally significant in long-duration spaceflight.

One of the 19 FY 1999-funded studies is concerned with affective and cognitive responses to microgravity-related changes in perceptual and physiological systems and the monitoring of cognitive performance and affect in flight. Several aspects of cognitive performance, including psychomotor performance, information processing, short-term memory, and decision-making processes, have already been examined extensively. Since few, if any, cognitive performance decrements have been identified during short-duration missions, future research should begin to focus on potential decrements associated with long-term exposure to microgravity and physical or social monotony. No studies are currently

Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
×

examining the behavioral responses to perceived risks associated with the space environment (e.g., radiation, contamination of the ambient atmosphere, buildup of debris, use of breathing apparatus and space suits) or psychosocial predictors of the use and perceived importance of “personal” territories and individual strategies for coping with physical and social monotony.

Within the discipline area of individual issues, the use of certain coping strategies during long-duration missions, the association between personality characteristics and performance criteria, the relationship between self-reports and external (i.e., performance-related and physiological) symptoms of stress, and individual and mission-related predictors of postflight changes in personality and behavior are not being addressed at present by NASA-funded research. Projects that relate to the monitoring of cognitive performance and physiological indicators of performance address the relations between self-reports and external symptoms of stress and the effect of psychosocial stressors on cognitive performance, but only in a marginal fashion.

Only one of the FY 1999-funded projects addresses interpersonal issues related to the influence of different crew composition (i.e., in terms of personality type, gender, culture, language, occupation, and career motivation) on crew tension, cohesion, and performance during the mission. This project is consistent with Strategy report recommendations and will also address ground-crew interactions with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the ISS, examining the impact of crew tension and dysphoria on crew-ground communication; the impact of ground-crew communication on crew cohesion versus task performance; and conditions that affect the distribution of authority, decision making, and task assignments between space crews and members of ground control.

In addition to the extramural activities described above, intramural research on behavior and performance at both JSC and ARC is ongoing, but largely operational in scope. The development of a critical path for research and countermeasure development at JSC includes four areas specifically related to behavior and performance: psychological adaptation (operational psychology), human-to-system interface, sleep and circadian assessment, and behavioral medicine. Priority has been placed on determining the following: (1) What fundamental behavioral stressors will most likely affect crew performance, both individual and team? (2) What information management and communication systems will best support the crew’s ability to exchange information, learn and maintain proficiency on critical tasks, and meet mission objectives? (3) What are the acute and long-term effects of exposure to the space environment on biological rhythmicity and on sleep architecture, quantity, and quality? (4) What models of behavioral health and task performance best predict problems and provide guidelines for effective treatment of illness during a mission? In general, these priority areas exhibit a high degree of correspondence with the behavior and performance priorities listed in the Strategy report and reflect current directions in the extramural research arena.

In summary, current NRA- and NSBRI-funded research activities in the field of behavior and performance are consistent with the Strategy report recommendations for research on neurobiological mechanisms underlying the effects of physical environmental stressors on cognitive and psychophysiological measures of behavior and performance. Most of this research is concerned with the characteristics of sleep and circadian rhythms and with changes in cognition and perception related to alteration of neurovestibular function on long-duration missions. Although some research is being conducted currently on the psychosocial mechanisms underlying the effects of isolation and confinement on cognitive, affective, and psychophysiological measures of behavior and performance, the level of effort in addressing environmental, individual, interpersonal, and organizational issues is not consistent with the priority placed on these issues in the Strategy report.

Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
×

PROGRAMMATIC BALANCE

Balance of Subdiscipline Areas

Current research efforts reflect considerable emphasis on sleep and circadian rhythms, performance related to neurovestibular function, psychophysiological monitoring, and cognitive performance on short-duration missions. In contrast, relatively little attention has been devoted to behavioral health and psychosocial adaptation, issues that could significantly impact the success of future long-duration missions. Current research efforts place too little emphasis on the influence of environmental, individual, and interpersonal factors and no emphasis whatsoever on organizational factors identified in the Strategy report as likely to affect behavior and performance during long-duration spaceflight.

This imbalance is reflected notably in the efforts of investigators currently affiliated with the NSBRI. The Human Performance Factors, Sleep, and Chronobiology Task Group is concerned almost exclusively with psychophysiological aspects of performance, concentrating on studies of sleep and chronobiology. The NSBRI External Advisory Council identified a gap in current research efforts directed at behavioral issues and recommended that greater emphasis be devoted to research and countermeasure development in neurobehavioral and psychosocial health. To this end, the NSBRI sponsored a workshop in July 1999 devoted to the task of identifying research priorities in this area. The workshop report identified six interrelated themes that define the range of factors critical to optimizing human performance during long-duration spaceflight: (a) biological mechanisms of neurobehavioral dysfunction; (b) cognition and performance; (c) individual factors; (d) team and interpersonal factors; (e) organizational, cultural and management factors; and (f) pharmacology in space. All six of these themes are consistent with those identified in the Strategy report.

Nevertheless, greater efforts are required to encourage the integration of extramural and intramural behavior and performance research, as well to propose and conduct research in areas related to individual, interpersonal, and organizational issues. The need for these efforts is reflected in the list of funded projects responding to the 1998 NRA (98-HEDS-02) “Gravitational Biology and Ecology and Biomedical Research and Countermeasures Programs.” Only three of the funded projects appear to relate to behavior and performance; two of these concern sleep and circadian rhythms, and one concerns sensorimotor function. NASA’s responsiveness to this need is reflected in the identification of specific psychological and psychiatric issues as topics for investigation in the 1999 NRA (99-HEDS-03) “Biomedical Research and Countermeasures.”

Balance of Ground and Flight Investigations

Approximately one-third of current NASA-funded research in behavior and performance involves experiments and data collection activities conducted in flight. This research is essential to understanding fundamental physiological and psychological mechanisms underlying behavior and performance during extended spaceflight. Ground-based investigations in laboratories and analogue settings (i.e., isolation chambers, polar expeditions) are also critical to understanding these fundamental mechanisms. Moreover, they offer a cost-effective alternative to conducting similar studies in flight, with fewer logistic demands and greater sample sizes. For this reason, the current distribution between ground and flight investigations appears to be a reasonable one. Although current countermeasure testing and validation in flight is limited, such investigations will become increasingly important as the operational demands for valid and reliable interventions increase with the involvement of larger numbers of astronauts on long-duration assignments in space.

Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
×

The current distribution between ground-based and in-flight studies also appears to be quite reasonable from the perspective of current constraints on conducting biomedical research in general, as well as behavior and performance research with NASA astronaut personnel during scheduled flights, and is consistent with Strategy report recommendations. However, it remains uncertain whether the current balance between ground and flight investigations is likely to continue. The construction phase of the International Space Station (ISS) will leave little opportunity for conducting in-flight experiments related to behavior and performance. Once the ISS is completed, biomedical research priorities must compete with commercial development and fundamental studies of microgravity for funding and personnel time. There has been no firm commitment to provide any of the resources necessary to conduct investigations to address these issues in the Human Research Facility racks proposed for the ISS.

Emphasis Given to Fundamental Mechanisms

Basic research designed to elucidate fundamental physiological mechanisms underlying such aspects of behavior and performance as sleep and circadian rhythms and sensorimotor and neurovestibular functioning accounts for most of the currently funded research in this area. These studies give appropriate emphasis to understanding fundamental mechanisms and demonstrate the need for such an understanding as a prerequisite to countermeasure development, testing, and validation. The same cannot be said of current research activities related to psychosocial issues. Most of these studies are observational in nature and lack the experimental design necessary to elucidate fundamental mechanisms. The Strategy report identified several issues that required research on fundamental mechanisms underlying relevant issues of behavior and performance during long-duration spaceflight. These include risk perception under conditions of isolation and confinement, interpersonal dynamics of small groups, crew tension and cohesion, the role of state versus trait characteristics in adapting to isolated and confined environments, and the causal links between alterations in the HPA axis, cognition, and affect. Greater effort is required to move beyond the application of broad-based models of behavior to the identification and support of empirically based advances in psychosocial theory.

Utilization and Validation of Animal Models

Although the use of animal models to understand certain fundamental physiological and psychosocial mechanisms related to behavior and performance in space is necessary and important, no specific mention of the use of animal models is made in the Strategy report. Some of the ground-based research on sleep and circadian rhythms has relied on animal models, and a few projects have attempted to validate these models under actual spaceflight conditions. Use of ground-based animal models to elucidate physiological mechanisms underlying behavior appears to be well developed and requires no additional emphasis beyond current levels. To date, there has been no attempt to develop animal models to elucidate psychosocial mechanisms, either on the ground or under actual spaceflight conditions. Such models are considered unnecessary and of questionable value at the present time.

In summary, in comparison to the Strategy report, current NASA-funded research places a disproportionate emphasis on sleep and circadian rhythms and on neurovestibular-sensorimotor decrements in perception and cognition and too little emphasis on the influence of environmental, individual, and interpersonal factors. There is no emphasis on organizational factors, identified in the Strategy report as likely to affect behavior and performance on long-duration spaceflight. The current balance of ground-based and in-flight studies is appropriate and understandable given the hiatus of in-flight opportunities during the construction phase of the International Space

Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
×

Station. However, the Strategy report recommended that in-flight biomedical studies be accorded much higher priority once the construction phase is completed. The current program of NASA-funded research is also not consistent with the Strategy report recommendations for ground-based and in-flight studies of the fundamental mechanisms underlying psychosocial issues.

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF COUNTERMEASURES

The high priority accorded by the Strategy report to the testing and validation of existing behavior and performance countermeasures and to the development, testing, and validation of new countermeasures is reflected in several recently published NASA operations documents (NASA, 1994, 1996, 1997a, 1998a,b). These documents outline current and proposed requirements for astronaut screening and selection, preflight training, in-flight monitoring and support, and postflight observation and support. They also identify areas in need of further investigation. For example, methods of validation for ISS crew selection and assignment have yet to be resolved.

However, there is very little evidence among current projects funded by NASA Life Sciences of research in the development, testing, and validation of countermeasures described in the Strategy report that are unrelated to sleep and circadian rhythms or to neurovestibular function. None of the FY 19999 NRA-funded projects listed under behavior and performance concern themselves primarily with countermeasure testing and validation, although the majority of projects have implications for countermeasure development. Four of the five NSBRI-funded projects are concerned with prevention and treatment of sleep- and circadian rhythm-related performance decrements. None of the recommendations for countermeasure development, testing, and validation listed in the Strategy report in the area of environmental, individual, interpersonal, and organizational factors appear to be the focus of current NASA-funded projects. Clearly, greater effort is required in countermeasure development, testing, and evaluation.

Consistent with Strategy report recommendations, the Countermeasures Task Force recommended that high priority be given to a critical review of analogue studies to identify psychological characteristics of successful individuals and crews, the natural history of psychosocial adaptation to extreme environments, identification of the types of problems that occur during deployment, and outcomes of attempted intervention and prevention measures (NASA, 1997b). Only three of the behavior and performance studies listed in the FY 1998 Task Book are in accordance with this recommendation. The Strategy report and the Countermeasures Task Force report also recommended that priority be given to reviewing the Russian experience with screening and selection, training and support, in-flight monitoring and support, and postflight monitoring and interventions. None of the current NASA-funded research projects address this recommendation. Also recommended in the Countermeasures Task Force report was a follow-up of the Rose et al. (1994) study of predictors of astronaut performance; research that improves our ability to assemble optimally functioning crews; and research on the best methods and protocols for training individuals and crews in conflict management and resolution, communication skills, cross-cultural awareness, team maintenance, and stress management.

Consistent with Strategy report recommendations, several behavior and performance countermeasures have been developed and implemented by the Medical Sciences Division at JSC, despite not having been tested and validated. Several others have been proposed, but remain in the planning stages. Current psychological adaptation countermeasures include select-out and select-in procedures for astronauts, family support office, preflight training in long duration mission and cross-cultural issues, in-flight psychological monitoring and support, and postflight debriefings. Proposed countermeasures include select-in procedures for the Expedition Astronaut Corps, individual and team field training and assessment, individual training support and consultation, crew conference plans, and confined operations

Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
×

training. Current human systems interface countermeasures address issues such as astronaut food preferences, aesthetics of work areas and crew quarters, and work schedules at all three stages of a mission (preflight, in flight, postflight). Proposed countermeasures include the development of on-orbit tools for assessment and retraining of critical skills; preflight assessment of optimal learning, workload, and limit assessment protocols; critical task analyses; and ergonomic fit to ISS requirements. Current sleep and circadian countermeasures include sleep self-report monitoring, shifting schedules to accommodate optimal sleep schedules, and administration of sleep medications in flight. Proposed countermeasures include sleep deficit and circadian rhythm monitoring, preflight assessment of fatigue limits, preflight training for individual fatigue countermeasures, and on-orbit monitoring of fatigue scale. Current behavioral illness countermeasures include select-out procedures for the astronaut corps, behavioral medicine care for astronauts and families, crew medical officer preflight training, in-flight monitoring and care, the Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool , the private medical conference with the flight surgeon, and the administration of medications. Proposed countermeasures include an annual behavioral examination, select-out procedures for the Expedition Astronaut Corps, development of individual performance plans, preflight assessments of mood and stress, behavioral medicine meetings with astronauts and families preflight and postflight, and the Spaceflight Behavioral Assessment Tool.

As with the biomedical and operational research efforts described above, the development, testing, and validation of these countermeasures by JSC personnel are not supported by research programs but are funded almost exclusively from operational resources. However, there has been a growing voice within the Astronaut Program Office for the development and implementation of many of these countermeasures under the auspices of an Expedition Astronaut Training Program. The objectives of the program would be to train astronaut personnel assigned to tours aboard the International Space Station and other long-duration missions in three areas: self-care and self-management, leadership, and team-work. The program would include both classroom and field exercises. Such a program would respond to several of the recommendations for development, testing, and validation of individual and interpersonal countermeasures listed in the Strategy report.

To ensure greater effort in countermeasure development, testing, and validation, as well as greater balance within the behavior and performance discipline areas in general, researchers should have exposure to operational needs and constraints. This will facilitate the design of studies that are likely to be relevant to the goals and objectives of the NASA community, particularly those that relate to countermeasures. Similarly, operations personnel have to call on extramural investigators for their expertise in addressing issues of operational relevance. The integrated product teams (IPTs) are designed to foster this collaboration between research and operations. However, the Behavior and Performance IPT has no current funding. The IPT mechanism for developing collaborative relationships among investigators and for integrating diverse research activities related to behavior and performance should be supported and strengthened. In addition, mechanisms for the interaction of these IPTs with personnel at NASA headquarters should be developed. Such efforts would facilitate preparation of RFAs, development and modification of research priorities, and dissemination of program activities.

In summary, with the exception of issues related to sleep and circadian rhythms or to neurovestibular functioning, current efforts leading to the development, testing, and validation of countermeasures are funded largely from the operations budget at JSC or are at the preliminary stages in NRA- and NSBRI-funded projects. None of the recommendations for countermeasure development, testing, and validation listed in the Strategy report in the area of environmental, individual, interpersonal, and organizational factors appear to be the focus of current NASA-funded projects. The committee recommends that greater effort be made in these activities, consonant with the critical importance of these tasks to the success of long-duration missions.

Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
×

EPIDEMIOLOGY AND MONITORING

The capacity to monitor and assess psychological status preflight, in flight, and postflight was identified in the Strategy report as critical to the foundation of an effective and comprehensive program of research in the fundamental mechanisms underlying behavior and performance, as well as the development, testing, and validation of countermeasures designed to enhance performance effectiveness and reduce performance decrements. Consistent with Strategy report recommendations, the capacity for monitoring psychological status in flight is listed as a requirement in the ISS Medical Operations Requirement Document (MORD) (NASA, 1998a). However, there is no current requirement for pre- or postflight monitoring, nor is there a plan to systematically analyze and interpret the in-flight data to be collected. These activities offer a relatively noninvasive means of collecting data that are critical to the tasks of elucidating fundamental neurobehavioral and psychosocial mechanisms and of testing and validating countermeasures. An ongoing program of epidemiology and monitoring would also help to integrate research and operational activities in a manner that would be cost-effective, nonredundant, and likely to stimulate intellectual synergy and institutional collaboration.

To date, there has been no concerted research effort designed to quantify decrements in behavior and performance during spaceflight as specified in the Strategy report. Similarly, there has been no consistent effort to monitor such behavior in flight. Consequently, an understanding of the distribution of performance decrements among flight crews, particularly on long-duration missions, and of the factors contributing to an increased risk of such decrements remains largely unknown. Thus, high priority should be given to the development and implementation of such a plan, as well as to the expansion of monitoring activities to the preflight and postflight phases of a mission.

SUPPORT OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES

Several new advanced technologies and methodologies have been supported by the extramural research program in behavior and performance. These include the adaptation of quantitative techniques for the analyses of cultural consensus and social dynamics for use in studies of small crews in isolated and confined environments; the development of statistical models to reliably detect in near real time significant alterations in the circadian physiology of individual subjects; the use of new techniques for the content analysis of qualitative data; and the development of automated data collection protocols for submitting psychosocial data from remote locations to investigators via the Internet. Several currently funded projects have already made substantial advances in the development of new, noninvasive techniques for monitoring cognitive, affective, and psychophysiological parameters of behavior and performance in flight, as recommended in the Strategy report. This includes the Performance Assessment Workstation to monitor cognitive performance and the use of neurophysiological measures (electroencephalographs) to monitor changes in cognitive status associated with environmental stressors.

The use of isolation chambers such as the new “BIO-Plex” facility at JSC offers the potential to study behavior and performance under conditions of extended isolation and confinement. Designed for the purpose of evaluating large-scale bioregenerative planetary life support systems with human test crews for long durations, BIO-Plex represents a high-fidelity test facility for the development of advanced technologies and methodologies for monitoring individual and interpersonal behavior, as well as for studies of fundamental mechanisms and countermeasure testing and validation. Its proximity to psychological and psychiatric operations personnel at JSC also provides an ideal context for fostering

Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
×

improved communication and collaboration among extramural investigators, NSBRI investigators and JSC operations staff in countermeasure development.

Currently funded NASA research in the area of behavior and performance appears to be making significant progress in the development of advanced technologies necessary for conducting noninvasive research in flight.

SUMMARY

Behavioral issues are likely to assume greater importance as missions in space grow in frequency and duration. The need to improve our understanding of fundamental neurobehavioral and psychosocial mechanisms and to develop, test, and validate countermeasures that optimize performance and minimize the performance decrements likely to occur during long-duration spaceflight has been amply demonstrated by past experience. At the present time, NASA-funded research programs only partially address this need.

REFERENCES

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 1994. Astronaut Selection Policy and Procedures Manual of the NASA Behavioral Health and Performance Program. JSC Document No. 26887. Houston, Tex.: NASA.

NASA. 1996. Spaceflight Health Requirements Document (SHRD). JSC Document No. 26882. Medical Operations Branch. Houston, Tex.: NASA.

NASA. 1997a. Postflight Rehabilitation Program. Space and Life Sciences Directorate. JSC Document No. 27050. Houston, Tex.: NASA.

NASA. 1997b. Task Force on Countermeasures: Final Report. Washington, D.C.: NASA.

NASA. 1998a. International Space Station Medical Operations Requirements Document (ISS MORD): Baseline. SSP Document No. 50260. International Space Station Program Medical Operations Space and Life Sciences Directorate. Houston, Tex.: NASA.

NASA. 1998b. Astronaut Medical Evaluation Requirements Document (AMERD). JSC Document No. 24834. Space and Life Sciences Directorate. Houston, Tex.: NASA.

NASA. 1998c. The International Space Station Research Plan: An Overview. Washington, D.C.: NASA.

NASA. 1999. Life Sciences Task Book, FY 1998. Washington, D.C.: NASA.

National Research Council (NRC), Space Studies Board. 1998. A Strategy for Research in Space Biology and Medicine in the New Century. Washington D.C.: National Academy Press.


Rose, R.M., L.F. Fogg, R.L. Helmreich, and T.J. McFadden. 1994. Psychological predictors of astronaut effectiveness. Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 65:910-915.

Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
×
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Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
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Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
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Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
×
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Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
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Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
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Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
×
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Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
×
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Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
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Suggested Citation:"9 Behavior and Performance." National Research Council. 2000. Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9950.
×
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The 1998 Committee on Space Biology and Medicine (CSBM) report A Strategy for Research in Space Biology and Medicine in the New Century assessed the known and potential effects of spaceflight on biological systems in general and on human physiology, behavior, and performance in particular, and recommended directions for research sponsored over the next decade by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The present follow-up report reviews specifically the overall content of the biomedical research programs supported by NASA in order to assess the extent to which current programs are consistent with recommendations of the Strategy report for biomedical research activities. In general, NASA programs concerned with fundamental gravitational biology are not considered here. The committee also notes that this report does not include an evaluation of NASA's response to the Strategy report, which had only recently been released at the initiation of this study.

Review of NASA's Biomedical Research Program summarizes the committee's findings from its review of (1) NASA's biomedical research and (2) programmatic issues described in the Strategy report that are relevant to NASA's ability to implement research recommendations.

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