US EditionAstronauts' brains change shape and position after time in space, study finds
Astronauts’ brains shift up to a few millimeters upward and back after long missions, with larger changes seen in yearlong spaceflights, study finds.
- On Monday, the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found astronauts' brains tilted upward and shifted up and back after spaceflight, researchers said this affects NASA's planning for Moon and Mars missions.
- Participants spent time ranging from space shuttle flights to International Space Station missions, with researchers comparing astronaut scans to 24 civilian participants on bed rest tilted 6 degrees head‑down for up to 60 days to simulate microgravity.
- Affected sensory-related brain regions showed measurable movement of a couple of millimeters, visible by eye, with astronauts experiencing larger upward shifts than bed-rest participants.
- On return, crews faced balance readjustment challenges, though the study found no serious symptoms such as headaches or cognitive impairment, and Seidler urged more research to safeguard astronaut health.
- Unanswered questions remain about sex, age, and how Moon or Mars gravity will affect recovery, limited by a sample size of up to a dozen astronauts per year, mostly men.
21 Articles
21 Articles
A study published in the journal PNAS showed that space stays shift astronauts' brains by a few millimeters.
Astronauts have an exciting but unhealthy job.
Spaceflight causes astronauts' brains to shift, stretch and compress in microgravity
Spaceflight takes a physical toll on astronauts, causing muscles to atrophy, bones to thin and bodily fluids to shift. According to a new study published in the journal PNAS, we can now add another major change to that list. Being in microgravity causes the brain to change shape.
Astronaut Brains Change Shape in Space
Over the past half-century of manned spaceflight, scientists have learned a lot about how the human body responds once freed from the confines of Earth’s gravity. Vertebrae drift farther apart, bones lose density, muscles atrophy, and fluids tend to migrate toward the head. But what about the brain? Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . According to new research published today in PNAS, human brains actually move a…
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