In addition to the loss of bone density, muscle atrophy and deteriorating vision, astronauts have a new source of concern: they also become a little “dumber” up there — but not for long.
Astronauts’ brains undergo temporary changes in cognitive processing during prolonged space missions, reveals a new study, November 20 in Frontiers.
Although the effects seem to disappear after returning to Earth, the results of analyzing the cognitive performance of 25 astronauts who spent six months aboard the International Space Station (ISS) worried NASA.
Although cognitive accuracy was not affected, researchers led by Sheena Dev from the US space agency’s Behavioral Health and Performance Laboratory noticed a slowdown in processing speed, working memory, sustained attention, and risky behavior during space missions.
These “may be the cognitive domains most likely to be altered in low Earth orbit for high-performance professional astronauts,” the researchers write.
Interestingly — and fortunately, of course — these changes were more prominent at the beginning of the missions and gradually returned, after the mission, to levels close to baseline.
“We have shown that there is no evidence of any significant cognitive impairment or neurodegenerative decline in astronauts who spend six months on the ISS”, confirms the study leader, in: “living and working in space was not associated with a generalized cognitive impairment that would be suggestive of significant brain damage.”
The researchers also noted parallels with responses to stress on Earth. This is the sleep deprivationfor example, can cause temporary cognitive slowdowns in similar areas, such as attention and processing speed.
“The slowdown in performance in terms of attention, for example, was only observed at the beginning of the mission, while the slowdown in performance in terms of processing speed only returned to baseline levels after the mission ended and the crew returned to Earth.” , says Dev.
“The most vulnerable cognitive domains in space are the same as those most susceptible to stress factors on Earth,” explains Dev. The study highlights that other cognitive functions, such as memory, remain relatively resistant to stress.
“For example, if we have a very busy day but didn’t sleep much the night before, we may feel that it is difficult to pay attention or that we need more time to complete tasks”, explains the scientist. Factors such as prolonged isolation, confinement and increased exposure to space radiation can exacerbate these problems.
The reasons underlying cognitive slowing in space are not yet fully understood: more testing is needed to understand the mechanisms that lead to these changes, especially as humanity prepares for longer missions beyond Earth’s orbit.
Tomás Guimarães, ZAP //
