Researchers call for international standards for studying long-term effects of weightlessness in crew members' brains

For 20 years, men and women from the United States and 18 other countries have continuously worked aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS represents an ambitious international collaboration between the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada to conduct long-duration space-based research in an effort to expand human knowledge through new scientific discoveries, provide benefits to people on Earth and support future exploration even further out into the solar system.

Keeping humans healthy in space requires keeping the brain healthy. Scientists are only beginning to study how the brain responds to extended periods in space. Emphasizing the need for an international collaborative approach to understanding the effects of spaceflight on the human brain is the aim of an editorial appearing in the October issue of Lancet Neurology titled “Towards understanding the effects of spaceflight on the brain.” The piece is co-authored by Donna R. Roberts, M.D., professor in the Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences; Alexander C. Stahn, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania-Perelman School of Medicine; Rachael D. Seidler, Ph.D., University of Florida; and Floris L. Wuyts, Ph.D., University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.

The authors study changes that occur in the brain during missions on the ISS by taking brain MRI exams of astronauts and cosmonauts before and after spaceflight. The authors feel, as an international community, that it would be better to work together to collect and analyze data using the same imaging protocols. They also are recommending that MRI studies be uniformly performed for crew members both pre-flight and early post-flight as well as within one, six and 12 months after a return to Earth. According to the authors, this suggested timetable of imaging sessions will facilitate the comparison of behavioral and clinical measures with imaging data to characterize the readaptation process. Other data to collect and consider are age, sex, body-mass index, previous flight experience, medical logs and exercise histories, among other factors.

“This is such an exciting time,” said Roberts. “The long-term work aboard the International Space Station demonstrates an extended human presence in space and represents a collaboration between many nations. It’s parallel to what we’re doing – working as partners – to understand what’s happening to the brain in space. I’m so fortunate to have met these colleagues who work with the various international space agencies and who are all interested in collaboration.”