A page-turning study suspects that astronauts who spend time in space may be susceptible to changes in mind, particularly the slowing of “cognitive performance.”
When astronauts who had been on board the International Space Station for an average period of six months became subjects of a study published in Frontiers in Physiology, the analysis suspected their interstellar stay had taken a toll on their cognitive stay. Previous analyses have already established that space heroes’ bodies face issues like radiation exposure, bone density loss and insomnia trouble. Nevertheless, cognitive abilities taking a hit during one’s space mission is a relatively new groundbreaking twist.
How is this study related to astronauts in space relevant now?
These findings are especially relevant given the current state of affairs related to recent space missions. With astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore’s initial 8-day Starliner mission turning into a months-long expedition, the NASA duo’s images from the ISS have already prompted concerns regarding their alleged weight loss.
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Moreover, the SpaceX Crew-8 members—NASA’s Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin—returned to Earth in late October after spending 235 days in space. Immediately after their capsule’s splashdown, the quartet was hospitalised at a local Florida hospital instead of their routine post-splashdown check-ups at their home base in Houston.
They were discharged the same day. However, an unspecified person on the team was asked to stay back at the hospital overnight due to a yet-to-be-revealed “medical issue.” The Crew-8 NASA trio remain tightlipped about the reasons even during their subsequently planned press conference, prioritising “medical privacy.”
Do long-term space missions really impact cognitive abilities?
The emergence of a study like this almost seems like a sign of the times. According to The US Sun, the new research entailed analysing 25 astronauts. A series of tests measured their speed and accuracy at different points of their stay onboard the ISS. Researchers ultimately found that the subjects of the study exhibited signs of slower cognitive performance. Their speed, working memory and attention appeared to be impacted compared to their responses on Earth.
“Cognitive performance was generally stable over time with some differences observed across mission phases for specific subjects,” the study noted. “There was slowed performance observed in early flight on tasks of processing speed, visual working memory and sustained attention.” Researchers also “observed a decrease in risk-taking propensity during late flight and post-flight mission phases.”
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Nonetheless, Dr Sheena Dev, a researcher at NASA’s Behavioural Health and Performance Laboratory, did not report “evidence of any cognitive impairment or neurodegenerative decline in astronauts spending six months on the ISS.”
Why astronauts display symptoms of these changes in mind + how to resolve them
Although the research didn’t narrow down the exact cause of these changes, scientists believe they could all be related to stress. Dr Dev added that even on the home planet, an individual under stress exhibits temporary changes in cognitive domains like processing speed, working memory, and attention.
“For example, if you happen to have a really busy day but couldn’t get much sleep the night before, you might feel like it’s hard to pay attention or that you need more time to complete tasks,” Dev explained. She also noted that “the most vulnerable domains while astronauts are aboard the ISS are the same as those that are more susceptible to stressors on Earth.”
Nevertheless, the latest study accentuated that some of these changes didn’t return to their status quo until astronauts were back on Earth. Therefore, the potential cure for these temporary afflictions is merely returning home.
