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Monitoring the Impact of Spaceflight on the Human Brain

Extended exposure to radiation, microgravity, and isolation during space exploration has significant physiological, structural, and psychosocial effects on astronauts, and particularly their central nervous system. To date, the use of brain monitoring techniques adopted on Earth in pre/post-spacefli...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Dinatolo, Michael F., Cohen, Luchino Y.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9323314/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35888147
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/life12071060
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author Dinatolo, Michael F.
Cohen, Luchino Y.
author_facet Dinatolo, Michael F.
Cohen, Luchino Y.
author_sort Dinatolo, Michael F.
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description Extended exposure to radiation, microgravity, and isolation during space exploration has significant physiological, structural, and psychosocial effects on astronauts, and particularly their central nervous system. To date, the use of brain monitoring techniques adopted on Earth in pre/post-spaceflight experimental protocols has proven to be valuable for investigating the effects of space travel on the brain. However, future (longer) deep space travel would require some brain function monitoring equipment to be also available for evaluating and monitoring brain health during spaceflight. Here, we describe the impact of spaceflight on the brain, the basic principles behind six brain function analysis technologies, their current use associated with spaceflight, and their potential for utilization during deep space exploration. We suggest that, while the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and computerized tomography (CT) is limited to analog and pre/post-spaceflight studies on Earth, electroencephalography (EEG), functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), and ultrasound are good candidates to be adapted for utilization in the context of deep space exploration.
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spelling pubmed-93233142022-07-27 Monitoring the Impact of Spaceflight on the Human Brain Dinatolo, Michael F. Cohen, Luchino Y. Life (Basel) Review Extended exposure to radiation, microgravity, and isolation during space exploration has significant physiological, structural, and psychosocial effects on astronauts, and particularly their central nervous system. To date, the use of brain monitoring techniques adopted on Earth in pre/post-spaceflight experimental protocols has proven to be valuable for investigating the effects of space travel on the brain. However, future (longer) deep space travel would require some brain function monitoring equipment to be also available for evaluating and monitoring brain health during spaceflight. Here, we describe the impact of spaceflight on the brain, the basic principles behind six brain function analysis technologies, their current use associated with spaceflight, and their potential for utilization during deep space exploration. We suggest that, while the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and computerized tomography (CT) is limited to analog and pre/post-spaceflight studies on Earth, electroencephalography (EEG), functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), and ultrasound are good candidates to be adapted for utilization in the context of deep space exploration. MDPI 2022-07-15 /pmc/articles/PMC9323314/ /pubmed/35888147 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/life12071060 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Dinatolo, Michael F.
Cohen, Luchino Y.
Monitoring the Impact of Spaceflight on the Human Brain
title Monitoring the Impact of Spaceflight on the Human Brain
title_full Monitoring the Impact of Spaceflight on the Human Brain
title_fullStr Monitoring the Impact of Spaceflight on the Human Brain
title_full_unstemmed Monitoring the Impact of Spaceflight on the Human Brain
title_short Monitoring the Impact of Spaceflight on the Human Brain
title_sort monitoring the impact of spaceflight on the human brain
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9323314/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35888147
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/life12071060
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