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Cognitive Functions of the Brain: A Review of Research in Weightlessness

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Abstract

The review is dedicated to the role of gravity in the implementation of human cognitive functions. The weightlessness on various aspects of cognitive activity is considered, such as the choice of a vertical, the formation of a reference system, including the time coordinate, the recognition influence of the symmetry of complex shapes, the processes of memorizing and recognizing images, and orientation in three-dimensional labyrinths. It is described how the EEG activity of the brain in response to visual stimuli changes in weightlessness. It is shown that in weightlessness there are not only changes in the work of reflex mechanisms, but also restructuring at the level of the cognitive system, in particular, “reprogramming” of sensorimotor systems, and the development of new skills for the functioning of the brain in changed conditions.

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Funding

The study was carried out within the state task of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (subject no. 0061-2019-0012).

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  1. Institute of Information Transmission Problems (Kharkevich Institute), Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    M. I. Lipshits & Yu. S. Levik

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  1. M. I. Lipshits
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Correspondence to Yu. S. Levik.

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Lipshits, M.I., Levik, Y.S. Cognitive Functions of the Brain: A Review of Research in Weightlessness. Hum Physiol 49, 165–175 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0362119722700219

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