Publication
Review on the Effects of Hypergravity on Workload and Fine Motor Skills in Humans.
Judith Bütefür; Julia Habenicht; Elsa Andrea Kirchner (Hrsg.)
In Proceedings of the 18th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies (BIOSIGNALS-2025), February 20-22, Porto, Portugal, ISBN 978-989-758-731-3, k. A. 2/2025.
Abstract
As the human body has adapted all functions and movements to Earth gravity it has to adapt its functions and
movements when gravitational forces increase. Astronauts are for example exposed to increased gravity, i.e.,
hypergravity, during rocket launches. To prevent security incidents on the missions, it is important to achieve
the best possible cognitive and motor performance from the outset, which requires a better understanding of
cognition and behavior under hypergravity. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of studies
investigating the electroencephalogram (EEG), the electrocardiogram (ECG), muscle activity (EMG) and
aiming accuracies in hypergravity as these biosignals are known to capture human cognitive performance and
motor performance in order to make a statement about the effect of hypergravity on the human body. The
literature review shows that all investigated parameters change under hypergravity. This fact highlights the
need for further analysis of how these changes affect the human body in relation to motor performance. It also
shows the need for novel and flexible training methods that allow astronauts to acclimatize to the new gravity
conditions without limiting the duration of training, such as when training takes place during a parabolic flight
or using a centrifuge. We propose the use of an active upper body exoskeleton as a new and flexile training
method.