Trial Parameters
Brief Summary
Crews of future long-duration exploration missions will have to cope with a wide range of stressors that present significant challenges for maintaining optimal performance. Crews will have to operate under conditions of high workload, reduced sleep and circadian dysregulation, limited sensory stimulation, confinement and extended separation from family and friends, and communication delays isolating them from real-time interaction with ground support, which may be particularly critical in the event of emergencies. These factors present significant risks to optimal cognitive/behavioral functioning and performance, across individuals and teams, and such challenges will only increase in criticality as human exploration moves beyond Earth's orbit to targets such as the Moon and Mars. To help mitigate these risks, Massachusetts General Hospital, along with collaborators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will investigate a novel, personalized and scalable, closed-loop platform technology for on-board behavioral health management-one which adapts the local working environment to optimize performance based on biosensor feedback.
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Willingness to participate in the study * Must be between the ages of 18 to 64 * Normal or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing * Ability to sit still and stay awake during the experimental sessions Exclusion Criteria: * Diagnosis with Neurological or psychiatric disorder * Participation in a prior study associated with this protocol (due to the learning- curve on some of the behavioral tests)