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How Going to Space Can Mess With the Astronaut Brain (new radiation research)
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/04/how-going-to-space-can-mess-with-the-astronaut-brain/361106/
How Going to Space Can Mess With the Astronaut Brain
A new study finds that deep-space travel could warp reaction time.
ADRIENNE LAFRANCE APR 23 2014, 11:00 AM ET
<snip>
New research from Johns Hopkins finds that long-term deep space missions can alter brain proteins and cause cognitive deficits like lapses in attention and slower reaction times. Researchers came to this conclusion by exposing rats to high-energy particles that simulate the conditions that astronauts would experience in deep space, then running them through a series of test that mimic the fitness assessments that astronauts, pilots, and soldiers are required to take.
But the strange thing scientists found is that deep-space conditions don't affect everyone the same way. About half of the rats tested emerged from the test entirely unaffected. The others began showing symptoms about seven weeks after exposure to space-like conditions. And once impairments appeared, they never went away. (Some rats showed improvement over time, however, raising the question of whether recovery is possible.)
The difference comes down to an individual's resilience after exposure to radiation. In space, astronauts who leave their space vehicles for space walks or other work are exposed to radiation from the sun's subatomic particles, solar flares, cosmic rays, etc. Even landing on the moon is a risk, since it doesn't have the kind of planet-wide magnetic field that protects us on Earth. (Mars, too, is a higher radiation environment than back home.)
If the findings translate to humans, scientists believe they might be able to identify a biological marker that would help determine how an individual astronaut's brain might respond to a deep-space mission before she rockets into the stars.
<snip>
How Going to Space Can Mess With the Astronaut Brain
A new study finds that deep-space travel could warp reaction time.
ADRIENNE LAFRANCE APR 23 2014, 11:00 AM ET
<snip>
New research from Johns Hopkins finds that long-term deep space missions can alter brain proteins and cause cognitive deficits like lapses in attention and slower reaction times. Researchers came to this conclusion by exposing rats to high-energy particles that simulate the conditions that astronauts would experience in deep space, then running them through a series of test that mimic the fitness assessments that astronauts, pilots, and soldiers are required to take.
But the strange thing scientists found is that deep-space conditions don't affect everyone the same way. About half of the rats tested emerged from the test entirely unaffected. The others began showing symptoms about seven weeks after exposure to space-like conditions. And once impairments appeared, they never went away. (Some rats showed improvement over time, however, raising the question of whether recovery is possible.)
The difference comes down to an individual's resilience after exposure to radiation. In space, astronauts who leave their space vehicles for space walks or other work are exposed to radiation from the sun's subatomic particles, solar flares, cosmic rays, etc. Even landing on the moon is a risk, since it doesn't have the kind of planet-wide magnetic field that protects us on Earth. (Mars, too, is a higher radiation environment than back home.)
If the findings translate to humans, scientists believe they might be able to identify a biological marker that would help determine how an individual astronaut's brain might respond to a deep-space mission before she rockets into the stars.
<snip>
