USD Professor to Study Astronaut Wellness for NASA
“We are hoping, given that freshman students are in transition and experience stress that could be comparable to what astronauts experience during transition to space, the results from our research could inform attempts to develop guidelines that astronauts can use to help them stay healthy in space,” said Ikiugu. “One of the deliverables that we hope to produce in this study is a draft of such guidelines that we can present to NASA for consideration.”
The focus of the research is on the mind and how it can be used as an instrument that human beings can use to shape challenging circumstances in their lives.
“One way of using the mind instrumentally would be to use a combination of meditation and progressive muscle relaxation and participation in meaningful activities that produce positive moods, and therefore, activate the reward pathways of the brain,” said Ikiugu. “Based on prior research, such occupations would be physically and mentally challenging (stimulating), fun and performed with other people.”
Ikiugu and his fellow researchers understand that astronauts, when in space, cannot perform such activities and that they must find alternatives. The research team has turned to the mirror neuron theory which posits that when a person observes something being done by another person, or even by watching oneself on video, the brain perceives the action as being performed by the person in real time. The effect of observing oneself on video performing an activity is substantively similar to performing the activity in real time.
“The idea is that if astronauts record meaningful and rewarding occupations that they perform with family and friends before they leave, they can watch videos of themselves performing those occupations while in space,” stated Ikiugu. Watching themselves on video, combined with meditation and relaxation will lead to enhanced health and wellbeing.”
This hypothesis will be tested on the research Ikiugu and colleagues are doing with freshmen students over the next two years. Ikiugu and his team will then make the appropriate recommendations to NASA.
“If the results support the hypothesis of effectiveness of our guidelines in enhancing health and wellbeing, we will develop guidelines for training astronauts and present them to NASA for consideration,” said Ikiugu. “In the meantime, we will continue testing our guidelines with a variety of client populations.”
