by Astronauts going on their first long-duration space mission have differences in their brains compared to the brains of more experienced astronauts and those of people who have never been in space, specifically, growth in the spaces of the brain where cerebrospinal fluid flows, a new study finds.
Although scientists have known that being in space alters and potentially damages the brainthe study is one of the first to address a specific aspect of brain health in space using a comparative method and a relatively large group of astronauts.
Cerebrospinal fluid, the clear fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord, behaves differently in microgravity, leading researchers to wonder what impact spaceflight might have on these areas. The findings may help scientists better understand how being in space affects the human brain.
Related: Long space missions can change astronauts’ brain structure and function
These studies are especially important for long duration missions; NASA plans to send astronauts to the moon in the coming years as part of the agency artemis program and finally to Mars – an It is estimated that the trip will last almost two years..
“These findings have important implications as we continue with space exploration,” lead author Dr. Juan Piantino, an assistant professor of pediatrics in the Division of Neurology at the University of Science and Technology School of Medicine, said in a report. Oregon Health. statement.
The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan the brains of 15 astronauts, nine of whom were “rookies,” meaning they were completing their first mission in space and had no previous spaceflight experience. Sixteen NASA ground employees Johnson Space Center in Houston served as a control group for comparison purposes.
The researchers examined the perivascular spaces (PVS), the spaces through which cerebrospinal fluid flows in the brain, of each astronaut before and immediately after their time in space. They also took scans one, three and six months after the astronauts returned to land.
The researchers found that the total volume of PVS of the novice astronauts increased after their trips to space. The PVS of experienced astronauts, by contrast, did not show this growth; in fact, their total PVS volume actually decreased. This may indicate that their brains “achieved some sort of homeostasis,” Piantino said in a statement. In other words, their brains may have become more adjusted to microgravity after the previous spaceflight.
In fact, the researchers found that experienced astronauts’ total volume of PVS prior to their current flight tended to be higher, and that this baseline volume correlated with the previous amount of time they had spent in space. Although none of these trends were statistically significant, meaning they could have occurred by chance, they do fit with previous research suggesting that changes in astronauts’ brains depend on the total time spent in space and the frequency of space missions. .
Although the volume of PVS increases gradually as people age, members of the Earth-based control group did not experience the kind of PVS changes that the novice astronauts did. PVS are part of the glymphatic system, which removes waste from the brain, primarily during sleep. Other health conditions, such as dementia and hydrocephalus, or the buildup of too much fluid in the ventricles of the brain, can affect these spaces. The results of the new study may help address the effects on these brain structures that result from health conditions on Earth.
“These findings not only help understand the fundamental changes that occur during spaceflight, but also help people on Earth who suffer from diseases that affect the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid,” Piantino said in the statement.
The results, as well as findings from other studies that have investigated the effects of spaceflight on the brain and cerebrospinal fluid, hint at the profound influence of gravity about the evolution of humans and all life on Earth. The body and brain did not evolve to be in a microgravity environment, and previous research has already provided clues about the variety of health effects related to time spent in microgravity, such as brittle bones Y problems with balance.
This research “forces you to think about some fundamental basic questions of science and how life here on Earth evolved,” Piantino said.
The research was published May 5 in the journal scientific reports,
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