A.G. Vinokhodova1, I.V. Grigoriev2, G.Yu. Vassilieva3, V.I. Gushin4, P.G. Kuznetsova5, T.A. Smirnova6, A.L. Tserkovsky7, V.V. Lapkovsky8

1,3-6 State Research Center of the Russian Federation – Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia)

2 CIS Executive Committee (Moscow, Russia)

7 Vitebsk State Medical University (Vitebsk, Belarus)

8 Moscow Pedagogical State University (Moscow, Russia)

1 vinokhodova@imbp.ru, 2 ivg21@rambler.ru, 3 galvassilieva@mail.ru, 4 vgushin.57@mail.ru, 5 kuznetsovapg@imbp.ru, 6 smirnova@imbp.ru, 7 tserkovsky.vsmu@gmail.com, 8 lapkovsky223@mail.ru

Autonomy as one of the main psychological factors of interplanetary flight imposes certain limitations on monitoring the psychophysiological state and activities of the cosmonauts. The search for objective and less invasive methods for express-diagnostics of the psycho-physiological state and relationships in the crew, allowing a quickly assess and making decisions about certain preventive measures, is very important for space medicine. The purpose of our study was to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the psychophysiological state and interpersonal relationships of crewmembers in ground-based experiments with isolation, simulating the initial period of interplanetary space flight. An international crew of six male volunteers took part in the Mars-105 experiment, which lasted 105 days: four Russians and two Europeans (representatives of France and Germany) aged from 25 to 40 years. A crew of six Russian women aged 25 to 35 years participated in the 9-day Luna 2015 experiment, simulating a short mission to the Moon.

We used: psychophysiological tests, aimed at assessing the psycho-emotional state, operator performance and stress-tolerance (SAN, RDO, etc.); socio-psychological techniques to assess relationships and group cohesion (sociometric questionnaire and PSPA); biochemical methods (assessment of the protein fractions with different molecular weights in saliva, the concentration of cortisol in saliva).

An increase in the concentration of a protein fraction with a molecular weight near 66 kDa in saliva was significantly (p=0.05) associated with the tension during operator activity and an increased content of cortisol in saliva in participants of the Mars-105 experiment. Higher levels of this indicator were found in subjects with lower sociometric status (“unpopular” crewmembers), who were perceived by other participants as unlike themselves, psychologically distant, and who were not desirable as partners for work in isolation conditions.

In the shorter Luna 2015 experiment, an increase in salivary concentrations of the 55 kDa protein fraction tended to accompany a more positive, relaxed state, although the correlations did not reach the level of significance (p=0.09).

New data have been obtained about the presence of reliable relationships between an objectively measured biochemical parameter - the concentration in mixed human saliva of a protein fraction with a molecular weight near 66 kDa – and some indicators of individual status, which affects popularity in the group. The presented results confirmed the necessity for further research in this area, in order to develop and validate a technology for express-analysis of the psycho-physiological state and group relationships in autonomous conditions.

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