This illustration
shows the configuration for conducting neurocognitive assessments for the
Neuromapping study aboard the International
Space Station. Credits: NASA
(October 10, 2015) In
space, there is no “up” or “down.” That can mess with the human brain and
affect the way people move and think in space. An investigation on the
International Space Station seeks to understand how the brain changes in space
and ways to deal with those changes.
Previous research and first-hand reports suggest that humans
have a harder time controlling physical movement and completing mental tasks in
microgravity. Astronauts have experienced problems with balance and perceptual
illusions – feeling as if, for example, they are switching back and forth
between right-side-up and upside down.
The Spaceflight Effects on Neurocognitive Performance:
Extent, Longevity, and Neural Bases (NeuroMapping) study is examining changes
in both brain structure and function and determining how long it takes to
recover after returning from space.
Researchers are using both behavioral assessments and brain
imaging. Astronauts complete timed obstacle courses and tests of their spatial
memory, or the ability to mentally picture and manipulate a three-dimensional
shape, before and after spaceflight. The spatial memory test also is performed
aboard the station, along with sensory motor adaptation tests and computerized
exercises requiring them to move and think simultaneously. Astronauts are
tested shortly after arriving aboard the station, mid-way through and near the
end of a six-month flight.
Structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
scans of the brain are done pre-flight and post-flight.
head-down tilt bed
rest. The Neuromapping Flight Study examines whether similar changes occur
with spaceflight. Credits: University of
Michigan
“We are looking at the volume of different structures in the
brain and whether they change in size or shape during spaceflight,” said
principal investigator Rachael D. Seidler, director of the University of
Michigan’s Neuromotor Behavior Laboratory.
Functional MRIs involve astronauts completing a task during
the imaging, which will show researchers which parts of the brain they rely on
to do so.
According to Seidler, both the behavioral assessment and
brain imaging are important to help identify the relationship between physical
changes in the brain and those in behavior.
“On Earth, your vestibular - or balance - system tells you
how your head moves relative to gravity, but in space, the gravity reference is
gone,” Seidler said. “That causes these perceptual illusions, as well as
difficulty coordinating movement of the eyes and head.”