Page 190 - International Space Station Benefits for Humanity, 3rd edition.

suppression of experimentally induced negative
reactions (full or partial) during the action of visual
The suppression of negative and vestibular stimuli while fixing the gaze on an
reactions during flight using the imagined target.
fixation reflex has been successfully The non-pharmacological computerized method
for treating and preventing vertigo, dizziness and
applied by crew members aboard equilibrium disturbances was tested in clinical
the ISS since 2013. conditions jointly with specialists from the nervous
disease department of the I. M. Sechenov First
Moscow State Medical University, the Academician
Alexander Vein Clinic for the Treatment of Headaches
and Vegetative Disorders, the Federal Scientific Clinical
Center of Otorhinolaryngology, and the Research
obvious need to develop non-pharmacological methods Center of Neurology.
of preventing and treating space motion sickness. Results of the clinical work demonstrated that patients
It is well known that people in extreme professions acquired the capacity to fixate on and hold their gaze
such as mountain climbers, athletes, acrobats and on both real and imagined targets, thus suppressing
ballet dancers develop the capability to suppress (fully or partially) vertigo, dizziness, nystagmus, and
unfavorable vestibular reactions at the moment high equilibrium disturbances. It was shown that training
accelerations act on them by developing a “fixation effectiveness depended not only on the disorder (i.e.,
reflex.” However, attempts by many clinicians to treat type of vestibulopathy), but also on the type of training
patients with vestibular problems using the same selected. For patients with peripheral vestibulopathies,
methods have been unsuccessful because of the the most effective was visual training; for patients with
vestibular challenges that are unique to this population. central vestibulopathies, the vestibular method was
Therefore, experts at the vestibular physiology the best option; and for patients with psychogenic
laboratory at the Institute of Biomedical Problems vestibulopathies, the combined method was preferred.
developed and patented a “Computerized method of Analysis of special questionnaires demonstrated
preventing and correcting unfavorable perception and that all patients with psychogenic, 91% of patients
sensorimotor reactions” (Russian Federation patent with peripheral, and 80% of patients with central
#2301622 dated 06/27/2007, Kornilova L. N. et al.). vestibulopathies subjectively noted “good suppression
The innovation of this method is in creating a unique of vertigo in everyday conditions” and “improvement in
approach to the training of patients depending on their general adaptation to real life conditions.”
disease (i.e., type of vestibulopathy) and in selecting
the most effective means of training (e.g., visual,
vestibular, or combined) by using biofeedback.
Depending on the nature of the vertigo, dizziness or
equilibrium disorder and of his/her disease (type of
vestibulopathy), a series of patient training sessions
is conducted to develop a unique fixation reflex using
biofeedback that is provided by the computer using
this method to record eye and head movements.
Training is conducted until the negative reactions
(i.e., vertgo, dizziness and equilibrium disturbances)
disappear or are significantly reduced. The therapeutic
effect of the training is assessed through a follow-
up clinical/neurological examination, which includes
using the computerized method of comprehensively
assessing the condition of vestibular function and
visual tracking function (Russian Federation patent Visual method of training (Laboratory of
#2307575 dated 10/10/07, Kornilova L. N. et al.) Vestibular Physiology, 2013).
and the specially developed OculoStim-CM hardware Image credit: Institute of Biomedical Problems
complex. The indicator of training success is the

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