Gravity is the First Teacher of Movement
Every movement you’ve ever made — from your first breath to walking — has been organized against gravity.
• Gravity gives your nervous system a constant reference point.
• It tells your body up from down, load from unload, effort from ease.
• When you lose that pull, your brain loses its anchor for proprioception — the sense of where your body is in space.
Reflex Disintegration
Primitive and postural reflexes depend on gravitational resistance.
• Head-righting reflexes fail first — the brain no longer knows which way is “upright.”
• Vestibular–ocular reflexes destabilize, making the eyes drift or oscillate.
• Rotational reflexes (used for balance and locomotion) go dormant because there’s no force to oppose.
Without those, coordinated movement collapses into disorganization — it’s like rebooting your entire motor system.
Loss of Axial Tone and Midline
In microgravity, muscles that stabilize
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