Woods Hole Toadfish Fly with John Glenn

For Immediate Release
Contact: Pamela Clapp Hinkle, 508-289-7276; pclapp@mbl.edu
or Dr. Stephen Highstein, pager #: 1-888-403-6210

--MORE TOADFISH IN SPACE--

NASA Will Study Balance in Two Woods Hole Toadfish,
a Senator, and Five Astronauts in Upcoming Shuttle Mission

Woods Hole, MA-Some of the ugliest and laziest fish known to inhabit
the waters of the northeast are accompanying John Glenn on his historic
mission into space this month. Two oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau),
collected from the waters off Woods Hole, Massachusetts, are
participating in an experiment designed to help scientists better
understand the effects that microgravity has on our vestibular,
or balance, system. These fish will be traveling more than 3
million miles through space on shuttle mission STS-95, which
launched yesterday from Kennedy Space Center.

This experiment is a follow-up to studies conducted on four
toadfish sent into space during the Neurolab mission (STS-90) last April.

The scientist responsible for these experiments, Stephen M. Highstein,
has been coming to the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole,
Massachusetts, for more than 20 years to study the vestibular
system of the toadfish. The vestibular system, which consists of
fluid-filled canals in the ears of all vertebrates, provides our sense
of balance and equilibrium. (The linings of these canals are covered
with hair cells that sense the movement of calcium carbonate crystals
known as otoliths. Changes in the position of the head cause the
otoliths to move, and the hair cells sense the movement and pass
that information along to the brain.)

Information about balance, movement, and location is so critical
to animals that the vestibular system was one of the first sensory
systems to evolve, says Highstein, an M.D./Ph.D. professor at
Washington University School of Medicine who spends his summers
doing research at the Marine Biological Laboratory. Not only were
the vestibular organs an early invention, but the system of canals and
hair cells and otoliths has not changed much over the eons or between
vertebrates ranging from toadfish to Senators.

Because the toadfish's vestibular system is very similar to our own,
the fish has become a well-known experimental model for learning more
about balance disorders such as Meniere's disease and benign paroxysmal
positional vertigo. The toadfish is also a good model for studying
motion sickness, including that experienced by astronauts during
space flight. This is why a few toadfish, in their specially designed
aquatic habitats, are joining John Glenn and other Shuttle crewmembers
on their journey through space.

The toadfish are fitted with a monitoring system that will
enable Highstein to analyze changes to their vestibular system,
specifically their otoliths, before, during, and after space flight.
Because Glenn and the other astronauts on the flight will experience
the same changes in gravity, the data gathered should reveal
important information about how the human vestibular system
adjusts to microgravity as well.

(More information about the specific experiment can be found at
http://shuttlepresskit.com/STS-95/experiment14.htm).

Most of us don't think much about our vestibular system, until
it malfunctions. When your vestibular system isn't working -
when, for instance, you are suffering from motion sickness-any
number of other systems are thrown out of kilter.

"You're lying on your bed," Highstein says, "You're dizzy. Your
vision is moving. Your digestion is affected. You certainly have
trouble doing any deep thinking..." Virtually all other systems
in your body can be affected when your vestibular system
misfires-and it often misfires during space flight.

Highstein tried a number of fish before choosing the toadfish as a
model when he came to the MBL in the 1970s.

"It was a matter of convenience," he remembers. Toadfish
were readily available. They were hardy enough to survive
in the lab. And they had an important anatomical advantage
over other fish: Their broad, flat head-an ungainly feature
that gives Opsanus its monstrous pollywog look-provides space
enough for easy-to-sort-out neural wiring.

It turns out that all of these advantages hold true for the toadfish's
usefulness as a model for studies in space as well.

The Marine Biological Laboratory, located in Woods Hole, Massachusetts,
is an independent scientific institution, founded in 1888, that undertakes
the highest level of creative research and education in biology, including
the biomedical and environmental sciences.

Visit our Web site at http://www.mbl.edu.

For more information about NASA mission STS-95 see:
http://shuttlepresskit.com/

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