A review of alterations to the brain during spaceflight and the potential relevance to crew in long-duration space exploration

Abstract

During spaceflight, the central nervous system (CNS) is exposed to a complex array of environmental stressors. However, the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the CNS and the resulting impact to crew health and operational performance remain largely unknown. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding spaceflight-associated changes to the brain as measured by magnetic resonance imaging, particularly as they relate to mission duration. Numerous studies have reported macrostructural changes to the brain after spaceflight, including alterations in brain position, tissue volumes and cerebrospinal fluid distribution and dynamics. Changes in brain tissue microstructure and connectivity were also described, involving regions related to vestibular, cerebellar, visual, motor, somatosensory and cognitive function. Several alterations were also associated with exposure to analogs of spaceflight, providing evidence that brain changes likely result from cumulative exposure to multiple independent environmental stressors. Whereas several studies noted that changes to the brain become more pronounced with increasing mission duration, it remains unclear if these changes represent compensatory phenomena or maladaptive dysregulations. Future work is needed to understand how spaceflight-associated changes to the brain affect crew health and performance, with the goal of developing comprehensive monitoring and countermeasure strategies for future long-duration space exploration.

Fig. 1. Summary of environment stressors with potential to impact the brain during spaceflight.

ICP = Intracranial Pressure. SANS = Spaceflight-Associated Neuro-Ocular Syndrome. *Radiation in this case refers to Deep Space Radiation, a hypothesized but as of yet unproven risk of deep space exploration, rather than the radiation experienced in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) missions.

Fig. 2. CNS regions impacted during spaceflight.

A summary figure illustrating the CNS regions believed to be impacted during spaceflight, including both primary CNS regions and the integration of those regions during higher-level functionining.