This volume of the series SpringerBriefs in Space Life Sciences describes findings from space
and accompanying ground research related to spatial orientation posture and locomotion
cognition and psychomotor function. The results are not only of importance to health and
performance of astronauts during their space mission but also impact people on Earth
especially in the ageing societies of the Western countries. The space environment produces
mismatches between sensory inputs from canal and otolith afferents which are difficult to study
in humans and are therefore studied in the fish model. Brain and vestibular organ of fish are
analyzed under altered gravitational conditions particularly weightlessness and structural
failures as well as malfunctions in different inner ear components are investigated and
discussed. The book is aiming at students engineers and scientists in space and aging research
as well as psychology neurosciences and sensory motor research.
