St. Mike’s scientists seek to answer whether VR meditation can help prevent illness among astronauts

January 17, 2025
April Barton

For astronauts, staying well is paramount for serving their function during a spaceflight mission. Saint Michael’s College researchers have been testing virtual reality meditation use’s effect on the immune system as a way to give wellness a boost.  

The project interested NASA, which helped fund and further the College’s research. Extensive testing has been happening at a remote research station in Antarctica, and depending upon the outcomes, the practice could be incorporated into future missions to the moon and Mars. 

Scientists have been finding the mind-body connection a strong influence on health, and Saint Michael’s College has distinguished itself among much larger research institutions for its work to find out just how strong that connection is and how that knowledge can be deployed to help people. 

Student researcher Colby Fane-Cushing ’25 demonstrates the experiment set-up for a VR meditation study funded by NASA in 2022. (Photo by Patrick Bohan)

A dose of meditation a day keeps the doctor away 

Scientists have long understood that stress hormones can impact health. Sustained stress has been linked to chronic diseases and short-term stress can cause dormant viruses to reactivate. Saint Michael’s College faculty – Psychology Professor Melissa VanderKaay Tomasulo and Biology Professor Dagan A. Loisel – decided to test whether meditation using virtual reality could reduce stress enough to show measurable health outcomes.  

So far, the evidence has been promising. 

During the initial project, Saint Michael’s student subjects donned a virtual reality headset and were immersed in visual and auditory stimuli developed by TRIPP, an AI powered wellness application available on mobile, smartglasses and virtual reality devices. Participants were monitored for stress response and viral shedding. Their blood pressure, heart rate, and heart rate variability were taken before, during, and after the session.  

A saliva sample was also analyzed for three biomarkers: cortisol, SIgA, and Alpha-amylase. Together, the prevalence of these indicates whether an immune response has been activated and the body is under stress. The subjects were also asked to self-assess their feelings of stress before and after meditation.  

Student researcher Madeline Van Winkle ’22 works with Biology Professor Dagan Loisel (left) and Psychology Professor Melissa VanderKaay Tomasulo on a study for NASA in 2022. (Photo by Patrick Bohan)

Zero doctor visits in zero gravity 

Astronauts are particularly at risk for developing illness as latent viruses have been known to reactivate while on mission. Since NASA began testing astronauts, more than half of space shuttle and International Space Station astronauts have shown shedding of herpes simplex viruses. Chicken pox, shingles, mouth sores, skin rashes, and mononucleosis are among the types of illnesses that can break out.  

NASA is keenly interested in keeping astronauts healthy during extended space flights. The agency and the National Science Foundation are helping finance and conduct research into exercise, supplements, and vaccination – in addition to Saint Michael’s study of stress reduction – because of concern illness could jeopardize a mission.  

VanderKaay Tomasulo, said this project has been an incredible opportunity for Saint Michael’s – the only small liberal arts college on an international team of well-respected, large research institutions. 

Testing at the South Pole mimics conditions of outer space 

Initially, Saint Michael’s performed testing at the College with more than 100 undergraduates engaging in one 12-minute VR session. That year of data collection wrapped in December 2022, and the findings showed decreased stress response and positive effects on multiple systems in the body.  

Virtual reality meditation was shown to not only be relaxing, but it also reduced stress on a neurobiological basis and produced immune changes. Saint Michael’s students also worked as research assistants on that project.  

Currently, VanderKaay Tomasulo and Loisel are working on publishing a paper of their findings and are preparing to present a full wrap-up on that project to NASA the end of January 2025. 

Once virtual reality meditation had been validated as effective, new testing commenced to find out how the body responds to repeated meditation over time in an extreme environment. The closest simulation planet Earth has to the outer space environment is either underwater or in polar areas like Antarctica. The U.S. has a research base at Palmer Station on Anvers Island near the Antarctic Circle.  

So, Saint Michael’s shipped 20 programmed headsets to workers there. Participants engaged in a 20-minute meditation four times per week for around three months. In November 2024, three years of the study were completed – following one cohort with no intervention and two cohorts with meditation, exercise, and supplements. NASA’s Johnson Space Center is analyzing the results, and findings are expected over the summer.  

If the countermeasures seem to have worked, then the next steps are to test on the International Space Station and then the Artemis mission, which will establish a moon base in preparation for eventually sending humans to Mars.  

Student researcher Madeline Van Winkle ’22, center, works with Psychology Professor Melissa VanderKaay Tomasulo, right, to monitor fellow student researcher Colby Fane-Cushing ’25 while he demonstrated the VR meditation experiment set-up in 2022. (Photo by Patrick Bohan)

Research dreams come true 

As an experimental health psychologist, VanderKaay Tomasulo often felt in the past like she was bringing people to the lab to stress them out.  

“I really like the stress reduction component – and truth be told I am really interested in space flight – the interactions with the human body, just the space program since I was very, very young,” she said. “So, it’s a full circle moment for me professionally and personally.” 

As a student, VanderKaay Tomasulo attended a small liberal arts college that afforded her research opportunities, similar to what this project has done.  

“What really helped catapult my career, I think, was having research experience in a lab,” she said. When she was deciding where to teach, Vanderkaay Tomasulo said, “I chose an institution like this because I was able to provide the same type of experiences for students that I’d had.” 

Loisel said the VR projects have been great opportunities for his study of the immune system and viruses to be centered on humans again, rather than animals. He has also enjoyed the multidisciplinary collaboration among colleagues and students. 

Saint Michael’s students from the disciplines of neuroscience, health science, psychology, biology and biochemistry all came together to take part in the first study, which laid the groundwork for the second study in Antarctica. VanderKaay Tomasulo says collaboration is the way forward.  

“Personally, I think that’s how we’re going to answer a lot of the big questions in science –  not just being in our respective labs but actually coming together,” she said.

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