Spacing out time between space flights might be better for astronauts. Areas full of liquid in peoples’ brains expand, because it is a way they adapt to low gravitational pull. Even when a space mission is complete, these structures do not shrink back instantaneously; it very may take even three years, according to Scientific Reports. Space missions that lasted two weeks did not have a lot of impact on the people. Six- and twelve-month missions, however, larger ventricles were the result. The similar quantity suggests the swelling slowed after six months in space.
With a minimum amount of gravity in space, the fluids accumulate in the astronaut’s head. “Sometimes, after getting back from a space trip, their face looks puffy,” says Rachel Seidler, who works at the University of Florida in Gainesville, and collects information on how the human body adapts to space.
Additional fluid also builds up in four areas of the brain, known as ventricles. Astronauts return to earth, often with enlarged ventricles. Those chambers are filled with liquid that cushions the brain and eliminates cellular wastes. In space, the ventricles expand as the take in more fluid, Seidler concludes.
She and her colleagues hoped to observe how time elapsed in space affects the human mind.
30 astronaut’s minds were MRI scanned for Seidler and her colleagues to distinguish. The scans taken before the trip were compared to the ones taken after. If the mission was longer, then three of four ventricles would be larger. The fourth is very small, Seidler notes. So, any changes in it may have been too small to see.
In 18 of the 30 astronauts went to space before, the gap between their last mission and the most recent seemed to alter the amount their brains reformed during the new mission that Rachel Seidler was studying. Astronauts who went to space three or four years before the scan, three of their ventricles enlarged on an average by roughly 10 to 25%. Other people had been to space earlier than them, less than three years. Their ventricles did not swell much. That proved their brain may have not had enough time from their mission to fully recover.
“I’m glad that the authors took the first step and are looking at this question,” says Donna Roberts, who is a specialist a brain imaging at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charlston. “There are so many variables that could play into the brain changes that we’re seeing,” Roberts says. “It’s hard to sort them out.”
The effect space has on the brain is even more complicated now, scientists have concluded. NASA wants to send people to mars, which could be a two-year trip. “Everybody talks about the rocket technology to get to mars,” Donna says. “But the humans- that’s the real challenge.”
Maybe one day people will go to mars, but their ventricle might expand very much. The effect space has on a brain is very noticeable, that could also be a big contribution to their experiments.
With a minimum amount of gravity in space, the fluids accumulate in the astronaut’s head. “Sometimes, after getting back from a space trip, their face looks puffy,” says Rachel Seidler, who works at the University of Florida in Gainesville, and collects information on how the human body adapts to space.
Additional fluid also builds up in four areas of the brain, known as ventricles. Astronauts return to earth, often with enlarged ventricles. Those chambers are filled with liquid that cushions the brain and eliminates cellular wastes. In space, the ventricles expand as the take in more fluid, Seidler concludes.
She and her colleagues hoped to observe how time elapsed in space affects the human mind.
30 astronaut’s minds were MRI scanned for Seidler and her colleagues to distinguish. The scans taken before the trip were compared to the ones taken after. If the mission was longer, then three of four ventricles would be larger. The fourth is very small, Seidler notes. So, any changes in it may have been too small to see.
In 18 of the 30 astronauts went to space before, the gap between their last mission and the most recent seemed to alter the amount their brains reformed during the new mission that Rachel Seidler was studying. Astronauts who went to space three or four years before the scan, three of their ventricles enlarged on an average by roughly 10 to 25%. Other people had been to space earlier than them, less than three years. Their ventricles did not swell much. That proved their brain may have not had enough time from their mission to fully recover.
“I’m glad that the authors took the first step and are looking at this question,” says Donna Roberts, who is a specialist a brain imaging at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charlston. “There are so many variables that could play into the brain changes that we’re seeing,” Roberts says. “It’s hard to sort them out.”
The effect space has on the brain is even more complicated now, scientists have concluded. NASA wants to send people to mars, which could be a two-year trip. “Everybody talks about the rocket technology to get to mars,” Donna says. “But the humans- that’s the real challenge.”
Maybe one day people will go to mars, but their ventricle might expand very much. The effect space has on a brain is very noticeable, that could also be a big contribution to their experiments.
