Aim of the project. The objective of the proposed project is the experimental study of the influence that geomagnetic field has on autonomic regulation of healthy magnetosensitive humans, based on the individual magnetosensitive responses to geomagnetic disturbances, simulating both space and terrestrial conditions. The development of our understanding of the influence mechanisms that geomagnetic field (GMF) exerts on the functional state of magnetosensitive individuals will have an important scientific, medical, social and economic value.
Current status. During the last decades, there has been steady progress in this direction. Space missions in Low Earth Orbits like the International Space Station already suffer from space weather effects. Solar space weather events and related to them GMSs can pose a serious threat to pilots and astronauts during flights or visits to the International Space Station. GMSs break the regular, synchronous rhythm of vital processes. Using the indicators of the Heart Rate Variability (HRV), some data have been obtained during the medical control of astronauts (retrospective materials from several expeditions of the space station “MIR”). In astronauts who performed flights on all days of GMSs and 1-2 days after GMSs, the activity of the regulatory systems was higher, and the regulatory balance of the autonomic nervous system was authentically shifted towards the intensification of the sympathetic division, in comparison with the astronauts who performed flights more than 3 days after GMSs. However, initial variations in the functional state of astronauts stipulated different dynamics of alterations during the flight. Special attention should be placed on the fact that a significant increase in the number of arrhythmias in astronauts occur during GMSs.
The analysis of HRV indices is used as an indicator of the adaptive reactions of the whole organism, disorders of the neurohumoral optimum outpacing the metabolic and structural disorders in executive organs. Four types of initial regulation of the autonomic nervous system have been singled out based on HRV.
1. Parasympathetic regulation;
2. The balanced regulation;
3. Balanced regulation with elements of the sympathetic divisions;
4. Sympathetic regulation.
The present - day researchers have studied the influence of space weather on biological objects, sick and healthy people, health risks, however, no convincing knowledge has been cumulated regarding the mechanisms of their impact on humans, and the way how to evaluate and reduce the risks of deteriorations caused by the impact of space weather and GMS. There are numerous projects to study the effect of different geomagnetic conditions on human health separately, but the influence of the GMF different degrees has not yet been studied completely.
GMS forecasting is being carried out world-wide: Boulder (USA, http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/the), Brussels (Belgium, http://sidc.oma.be/) and Izmiran (Troitsk, Russia, http://www.izmiran.ru). However, these forecasts are intended for rather high latitudes of the Earth and can diverge from real events at local middle latitudes not only by several hours, but also by up to 24 hrs.
Numerous projects have been known to use shielded rooms for magneto-medical and bio-magnetic research. However, such rooms are expensive, unwieldy, and can cause psychological and physical discomfort of the subject. Owing to full electromagnetic isolation in such rooms, induced hypo magnetic environment that significantly differs from natural geomagnetic conditions makes it impossible to achieve various degrees of compensation/simulation of static and time-varying components of GMF.
Influence of the project on the progress in this area. In the case of successful completion of the project, will be possible to establish a potential mechanism of GMF influence on the magnetosensitive healthy humans functional state, based on the observations and experimental studies simulating conditions both in space and at Earth. Definition of the GMF biotropic (sinchronization) effects, taking into account the individual magnetosensitive reactions, will be allow to predict possible deviations in autonomic nervous system activity during changes of GMF.
Scope of activities. Effort provided by the project includes the accomplishment of the following tasks:
· Modernization/ modification and exploitation of device for magneto compensation/simulation.
· Study of the spectral composition of GMS (processing data of magnetogramms and their comparative analysis)
· Monitoring of current geomagnetic field conditions.
· Definition of the initial magnetosensitive type of investigated persons using the elaborated test of magnetosensitivity.
· Comparison of individual magnetosensitive reactions under the conditions of GMF static and time-varying components of different degree compensation and simulated GMS.
· Computer processing, ordering and the comparative analysis of the monitoring data, statistical data processing.
· Study of the mechanisms of GMF influence on the magnetosensitive humans based on the comparison between spectral compositions of HRV indices and GMS.
· Definition of GMF biotropic effect on human health, taking into account the individual magnetosensitive reactions during different conditions of GMF.
· Preparation of reports and publications based on the research results.
