FEATURE INTERVIEWD RE L I S AR A F FA E L L A
F E R R È
Elisais a seniorpsychology
lecturerandthedirectorof
theVestibularMultisensory
Embodiment(VeME)labat
RoyalHolloway,Universityof
London.Herworkhastaken
herfromthelabintothe
skieswithparabolicflights,
andinmoreunusual
directionsthrough
collaborationswithartists,
musiciansandtheGuerilla
ScienceYouTubechannel’s
Space Yoga series.YOURWORKLOOKSATTHEINFLUENCEOF
GRAVITYONTHEBRAIN. WHY DO WE NEED
TOSTUDYTHIS?
Thisis a verygoodandtimelyquestion.Last
yearwasthe50thanniversaryoftheApollo
Moonlanding.Fiftyyearsagowehadbrave
peoplegoingintoouterspacewithouteven
knowingwhattheyweredoing,andthey
copedwiththat.Theydidanamazingjob.But
weareat thebeginningofa newspaceage.
NASAwillsendastronautstoMarsin 20
years,andcommercialspaceflightis goingto
bea reality.Soon,you’llbeabletobuya ticket
togotoouterspace,enjoyyourtravel,and
comeback.Theexperienceofbeinginouter
spaceis fascinating,butit’snoteasyforour
bodiesandourbrainstodealwithnon-
terrestrialgravity.Understandinghowgravity
canimpactourbrain is necessary before we go
in that direction.
WHENWE’REONEARTH,ISGRAVITYHAVING
ANIMPACTONOUR BRAIN IN WAYS THAT WE
DON’TREALISE?
Yeah.Theimpactof gravityonhuman
cognitionis stillneglectedinpsychologyand
neuroscience.Wehavebeenfocusedona lotof
otheraspectsof ourcognition,likehowwe
recognisecolourandhowgoodweareat
perceivingsounds.
Gravityis a sensorysignal.Earth’sgravityis a
constantaccelerationof 9.807m/s≤, namely1g.
Butwecannot‘feel’it.Youcanseea colour,
youcanheara song,youcanspota mosquito
onyourskin,butyoudon’tperceivegravity.
Yetgravityis themostpersistentsensorysignal
inthebrainandit silentlycontributesto lotsof
differentthingsinourdailylives,likewalking,
jumping,liftingobjects,whatever.
Wehaveevolvedina terrestrialenvironment
undera stable1gacceleration.Thevestibular
otoliths,whicharetiny,sophisticatedreceptors
insidetheinnerear,constantlymonitorthe
magnitudeanddirectionof gravitational
acceleration.Theimportanceof gravityfor
behaviouris evidentwhenweareina placein
whichthereis nottheusualgravitational
acceleration,suchasouterspace.In
weightlessness,thehumanbrainhasto adapt
andcopewiththefactthatfamiliar1gis no
longerthere.That’swhyit’snotsoeasyto bein
outerspace.Astronautsoftenreporttheso-
called‘spacemotionsickness’.Imaginethe
worstcarsicknessyou’vehad,andnow
multiplyit by 10 orevenmore.Hereweare!
Thisis causedbytheabsenceof gravity: the
braintakestimeto adjusttoa novel
gravitational environment.
THISISAYOUNGFIELDOFSTUDY,ISN’TIT?
It is,andit’sa veryunusualfieldofresearch.
Comparedtoothersensorymodalities,our
knowledgeofgravityasa perceptualsignalhas
notadvancedsomuch.Thereasonis very
simple.It’snoteasytostudythecontributionof
gravity on Earth, where gravity is always there.EXACTLY.HOWDOYOUDOIT?
Weneedto becreativeinfindingwaysto study
gravityon,andpossiblyoutside,Earth.Fantastic
medicalresearchis constantlydoneonthe
InternationalSpaceStation[ISS].Astronautsare
engagedinseveralexperiments– doyou
rememberhowbusyTimPeakewas?– providing
directdataontheeffectsof gravityonbodily
physiology.However,wearetalkingabouta few
peoplewhoareextremelywelltrainedto bein
outerspace.WhatI’mmoreinterestedinis what
happensto non-astronautswhenexposedto non-
terrestrialgravity.
Myresearchcombinestechniquesfrom
cognitiveneuroscienceandexperimental
psychologywithspaceresearchmethods.Werun
experimentssupportedbytheEuropeanSpace
Agency[ESA]onparabolicflight– thefamous
‘VomitComet’– andhumancentrifuges.Weare
alsodevelopingtechniquesto altergravityinour
lab,allowingusto understandhowgravity
impactsbehaviourinlargegroupsof people
hereonEarth.
Weuseinversiontables,whichcanpassively
turnpeopleupsidedown.Wealsorecently
demonstratedthatvirtualrealitycanbereliably
usedto trickthebrainandmakepeoplebelieve
thattheyareonplanetwithdifferentgravity,on
Marsforexample.Andfinally,weapplyartificial
vestibularsimulation,inwhichsomeelectrodes
placedbehindtheearelectricallystimulatethe
vestibularnerve[whichis responsiblefor
hearingandbalance].It looksa littlebit
Frankenstein, butit’stotallysafe,don’tworry.
Usingthesemethods,wecanstudy
howperceptionandcognitionchange
when gravitational information is altered.YOU’VEMENTIONED
PARABOLICFLIGHT–CAN
YOUBRIEFLYEXPLAIN
WHATTHATIS?
Thisis therealfunpartof
myresearch!Parabolic
flightsaredoneona
refittedA310Airbus
plane.Therearenotthe
usualseats,butthereis
experimental 2
2 equipment. Multiple“Astronautsoftenreport
theso-called‘space
motionsickness’.Imagine
theworstcarsickness
you’vehad,andnow
multiply it by 10”