Assessment of the Psychophysiological State of Female Operators Under Simulated Microgravity.

Svetlana Lebedeva,Alexandra Savinkina,Dmitry Shved

doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.751016

Abstract

The article describes methods of non-verbal speech characteristics analysis used to determine psychophysiological state of female subjects under simulated microgravity conditions (“dry” immersion, DI), as well as the results of the study. A number of indicators of the acute period of adaptation to microgravity conditions was described. The acute adaptation period in female subjects began earlier (evening of the 1st day of DI) and ended faster than in male ones in previous studies (2nd day of DI). This was indicated by a decrease in the level of state anxiety (STAI, p < 0,05) and depression-dejection [Profile of Mood States (POMS), p < 0,05], as well as a decrease in pitch (p < 0,05) and voice intensity (p < 0,05). In addition, women, apparently, used the “freeze” coping strategy – the proportion of neutral facial expressions on the most intense days of the experiment was at maximum. The subjects in this experiment assessed their feelings and emotions better, giving more accurate answers in self-assessment questionnaires, but at the same time tried to look and sound as calm and confident as possible, controlling their expressions. Same trends in the subjects’ cognitive performance were identified as in similar experimental conditions earlier: the subjects’ psychophysiological excitement corresponded to better performance in sensorimotor tasks. The difference was in the speed of mathematical computation: women in the present study performed the computation faster on the same days when they made fewer pauses in speech, while in men in previous experiments this relationship was inverse.

Highlights

In the context of the possibility of long-term flights into deep space, new approaches are currently being developed to create systems for psychophysiological support of the crew
According to the results of our study, the acute period of adaptation in women under simulated microgravity began in the evening of the 1st day and ended in the morning of the 2nd day of immersion
The presence of an acute adaptation period was indicated by a change in the pitch and intensity of the subjects’ voices, which confirms the importance of these non-verbal characteristics of speech for assessing the psychophysiological state of a person

Summary

Introduction

In the context of the possibility of long-term flights into deep space, new approaches are currently being developed to create systems for psychophysiological support of the crew. Among the main requirements for such systems there are increased autonomy and minimal invasiveness (Egorov, 2001; Cermack, 2006). Such methods would allow for continuous monitoring of the crew members’. The acoustic characteristics of speech are less susceptible to conscious control and better reflect the deep features of the human functional state. For this reason, they have been used for a long time in studies devoted to assessing the functional state of a person in extreme conditions (Kartavenko, 2005)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion