Space Travel Can Change Astronauts' Brains for Years

Fluid-filled cavities in the brain expand during spaceflight, and a new study shows that astronauts may need three years to recover

Will Sullivan

June 14, 2023



Astronaut candidate Bobby Satcher during a zero-gravity flight on an aircraft in 2004. The microgravity in space affects the human body and even changes the brain. Smith Collection / Gado via Getty Images

Scientists have long known that traveling to space takes a toll on the body—but they’re still trying to figure out just what that means. But according to a new study, lengthy voyages outside Earth’s gravity can change an astronaut’s brain.

At the center of the brain are four, fluid-filled cavities called ventricles, which help keep the organ cushioned and floating in the liquid that surrounds it. During spaceflight, these ventricles expand by between 11 and 25 percent, as previous studies have shown.

In the new paper, published last week in the journal Scientific Reports, scientists assert that astronauts’ ventricles expand more during longer missions—and it could take more than three years for them to return to normal.

“How this impacts performance and long-term health is an open question,” Rachael Seidler, the study’s senior author and a space health researcher at the University of Florida, tells Space.com’s Charles Q. Choi.

More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/space-travel-can-change-astronauts-brains-for-years-180982366/