Our brains change as we get older. After being in space for a long time, what happens to the human brain?
The European Space Agency and Russia's space agency have collaborated on a study on how brain changes after traveling to space and back. They found that the brain is almost rewired and that both fluid shifts and shape changes occur. The researchers found that these changes can last for months after a person returns to Earth.
The strange brain changes that the team observed were very new and very unexpected, according to the study lead.
There are 6 weird facts about the human body in space.
The brains of 12 male cosmonauts were studied by the international research team before and after their flights to the International Space Station. The same cosmonauts had their brains observed seven months after they returned to Earth. All of the cosmonauts in this study took part in long-duration flights that lasted on average 172 days.
The team focused on how the brain can adapt to spaceflight, and also on the connections within the brains of the cosmonaut subjects.
Structural analyses of the brains of astronauts have been done, but not yet.
The team used a brain scanning technique called fiber tractography, a 3D reconstruction technique that uses data from dMRI scans to study the structure and connections within the brain.
Fiber tractography shows a wiring scheme of the brain. Our study is the first to use this specific method to detect changes in brain structure after spaceflight.
Magnetic resonance imagery can tell researchers a lot about the brain.
The structure of gray matter and white matter are similar to the structure of the PC's processor and processor board. The fluid in the brain is called theCSF.
Space travel can change your brain.
The structures appear to be altered after spaceflight due to the fluid shift which happens in space. The team found an increase in gray and white matter. White matter in the brain facilitates communication between gray matter in the brain and between gray matter and the rest of the body.
In addition to this fluid shift, the team noticed shape changes in the brain, specifically in the corpus callosum, which is a large bundle of nerve fibers that is the central highway connecting both hemispheres of the brain.
It was thought that spaceflight could cause structural changes. The team found that the ventricles nearby dilate, which causes the neural tissue around the callosum to change shape. There are pockets in the brain that produce and store CSF.
The researchers found changes in the neural connections between several motor areas of the brain. In weightlessness, an astronauts needs to change his or her movement strategies a lot. Our study shows that their brain is different.
The motor areas show signs of adaptation after spaceflight. We have a first indication that it is reflected at the level of connections between those regions.
The changes were noticed before the cosmonauts returned to Earth. The brain scans taken of the subjects seven months after landing showed that the changes were still present.
This study is part of a growing body of research that is looking at how spaceflight affects the human body. This isn't the end of our understanding on the subject, but it does reveal new insights into how the brain can be affected, information which researchers can use to better protect humans going to space.
The research shows that we need to invoke countermeasures to make sure that the brain's fluid shifts are limited.
Artificial gravity is a measure that could reduce the effects. Artificial gravity is created by an insturment force to replicate the feeling of gravity as we experience it here on Earth. Scientists in recent years have begun to bring this concept into reality, as a staple of science fiction.
The fluid shift issue can be solved by using artificial gravity on the space station or a rocket to Mars. The rotating donut is an example of what would be ideal. It is difficult to realize. It might be the way to go. Future research will tell.
The work was published in the journal.
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