NSF PR 98-20 - April 7, 1998
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Shuttle Mission's "Neurolab" to Study Nervous System
Science in Space to Feature Snails,
Fish
Early on the morning of April 16, 1998, dozens of
snails and fish will go where only a few men and women
have gone before: into outer space. The snails and
fish will travel aboard NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia,
as part of a research project funded by the National
Science Foundation (NSF) to study the development
of gravity sensors in space by animals in the early
stages of life.
The snails and fish will fly aboard Neurolab, a shuttle
research mission dedicated to the study of the life
sciences. Neurolab will focus on the most complex
and least understood part of the human body -- the
nervous system -- which faces major challenges in
space.
Gravity sensing systems have the same basic structure
in all vertebrates, whether fish or humans. The gravity-detecting
organ is lined with sensory cells that send signals
to the brain when they are "triggered" by small, rock-like
particles of calcium carbonate, referred to as statoliths
in snails and otoliths in fish (and in humans). In
humans, this system is a component of the inner ear.
"Gravity is always present on earth, so it's been
hard to explore its role in development and in controlling
movement," says Christopher Platt, program manager
in NSF's division of integrative biology and neuroscience,
which funded the aquatic experiments. "Neurolab allows
unique tests that will shed light on how gravitational
sensors work. These studies may tell us how exposure
to lack of gravity may lead to abnormalities in the
otolith organs, relevant to long-term space flight
and to certain kinds of posture and balance problems
in people on Earth."
Other benefits of the aquatic studies aboard Neurolab
are development of an electrode that offers potential
use as a connection to the nervous system in people
with deafness caused by hair cell damage. The electrode
might also someday be used as an interface to signal
motor prostheses how and when to move.
Tracking the progress of the snails and fish flying
aboard Columbia will be scientists on The Aquatic
Team, as they're known to shuttle crewmembers. Researcher
Michael Wiederhold of the University of Texas Health
Science Center at San Antonio will monitor freshwater
snails and swordtail fish in the beginning stages
of their development into adults.
Wiederhold hopes to learn what physiological changes
occur in the components of the gravity sensors of
animals in space, whether signals sent from the inner
ear to the brain are altered, and if alterations do
occur, whether behavior of the animal changes. Upon
return from their flight in space in Neurolab, the
freshwater snails and swordtail fish will be compared
to a control group on Earth to determine whether the
size of their statoliths and otoliths increased while
they were in "microgravity." On Earth, the pull of
gravity eventually signals developing statoliths and
otoliths to stop growing. "In space, however," says
Wiederhold, "without this signal, they should develop
to a larger size than they do on Earth. And if indeed
they increase in size, how will that affect these
animals?"
Scientist Steven Highstein of the Washington University
School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, will also
study aspects of the inner ear, but his research involves
the inner ears of astronauts flying aboard Columbia,
as well as those of oyster toadfish aboard Neurolab.
Editors: For illustrations of The Aquatic Team
at work, contact: Michael Wiederhold, (314) 362-1012,
or Steven Highstein, (210) 567-5655.
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