These are not the signs you’re looking for Analysis of these revealed that the brains of all of the long-term space explorers, but not of those on short-term missions, had shifted upward in response to the microgravity conditions. The team found that 94 percent of the astronauts on long-term missions experienced a narrowing of a groove at the top of the brain, called the central sulcus, while this only happened in 19 percent of the space shuttle travelers.Īdditional data showing multiple sequential brain scans were available for a subset of the astronauts. The study involved 18 astronauts on long-term missions to the International Space Station, lasting on average 164 days, and 16 astronauts who had been on short-term space shuttle flights averaging 13 days. The fascinating results were published yesterday in The New England Journal of Medicine. Antonucci - both associate professors at Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston - and colleagues studied MRI scans of astronauts before and after both short-term and long-term space missions. To explore how microgravity affects the brain, neuroradiologists Drs. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) call this visual impairment and intracranial pressure (VIIP) syndrome. Some astronauts aboard the International Space Station have experienced problems with their vision and increased pressure in their brains as a result of microgravity. The scientific term for this is microgravity. Durante and his colleagues published an article about the effects of space on the cardiovascular system in Nature Reviews Cardiology a couple of weeks ago.īut, before we delve into the effects of extraterrestrial experiences on the heart, let’s look first at research hot off the press on how space distorts the brain.īrain shifts upward on long-term missionsĪstronauts live in virtually weightless conditions during their space travels. Marco Durante, from the Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Applications in Italy, told me. “The whole body is under stress in the space environment, and the different stressor (microgravity, radiation, psychological, etc.) are entangled,” Prof. But it’s not just the muscles that are affected. Many people will be familiar with the concept that during time in space, astronauts’ muscles shrink because of the lack of gravity. So, I hope you appreciate my excitement about two new papers dealing with the effects of spaceflight on the human body. But my interest in all things to do with galaxies far, far away never faltered. With my feet firmly rooted on the ground, my curiosity took me into the field of human biology instead. The problem is that I don’t particularly like heights, or flying, for that matter. Inspired by a trip to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in my early teens, I saw myself boldly going where no man had gone before. Like many others, I dreamt of being an astronaut when I was younger. How can we keep them safe in their interstellar journeys? Share on Pinterest Astronauts face the hostile space environment on their travels.

Beware the face of mars