Space Affects Brain

Astronauts are staying long in the International Space Station (ISS) and do lot of scientific experiments in the microgravity. Staying longer in the ISS helps us to understand how our body changes in the space. It will help us to design suitable space crafts and create travel plans for our future deep space travels. But, space affects brain if we stay longer in the space. A team of scientists from Belgium, Germany and Russia has confirmed this in a new study. 

(Space affects brain. Image Courtesy: VSRao and FelixMittermeier from Pixabay)

They have studied brains of ten cosmonauts who were stayed in the ISS for at least six months. They scanned the brains of the cosmonauts before going to the ISS and after coming to the Earth. The MRI scanning of their brains revealed that the volume of grey matter is reduced in cerebral cortex and cerebellum after staying in the ISS. When they scanned the brains of seven cosmonauts seven months after they reached the Earth, they have noticed that grey matter is recovered to the normal level. 

They have also found a reduction in white matter after staying in the ISS. But the white matter volume in cortex and cerebellum is not recovered even after seven months after reaching the Earth. They have also discovered that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) spaces above the brain are reduced and around the brain (temporal and occipital lobes) are increased. Even after seven months, the CSF spaces outside the brain are remained increased. 

(International Space Station - NASA, Wikimedia)

A previous study of the brains of astronauts also showed similar changes to the brains and CSF. In that study, scientists scanned the brains of 18 astronauts who were stayed in the ISS for around 164.8 days. They found that long time stay in the ISS shifted the brain upward and narrowed the CSF spaces.

The change in the CSF space alters the pressure and affects the eyes of the astronauts. The scientists at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have found that the microgravity in the ISS flattens the eyeballs and cause myopia. When the astronauts return after the long stay in the ISS, they have blurry vision and nearsightedness problems. Even though space affects brain, the space agencies are doing research to reduce these effects on our body.