Neurovestibular adaptation to spaceflight: research progress.

This double issue of the Journal of Vestibular Research contains eight vestibular research papers from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI). NASA established the NSBRI in 1997 through a nationwide competition. Research teams of scientists were formed in several disciplines of physiology related to long duration spaceflight, including the neurovestibular function. During the first five years of NSBRI research, each team’s goal has been to define the biomedical problems associated with long duration spaceflight, to understand the basic mechanisms, and publish findings in peer-reviewed journals. The teams also have the important additional goal of defining, developing, and validating scientifically based countermeasures. In the neurovestibular domain, the most serious risks of spaceflight include motion sickness, particularly while wearing a space suit; disorientation caused by weightlessness or by the Coriolis cross-coupling effects of artificial gravity; disabling vertigo during re-entry and landing; and an inability to stand or walk upon return to Earth. Potential countermeasures include new methods for preventing, treating, and monitoring space motion sickness, sensory-motor training to facilitate adaptive responses to gravity transitions, the use of