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Structural Brain Changes Associated with Space

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Handbook of Space Pharmaceuticals

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Abstract

Space flight occurs in an extremely hostile environment, one for which man is inherently poorly adapted. As the duration of flight increases, more clinical syndromes and cerebral structural changes are being described, suggesting a direct relationship to time of exposure. There is now emerging evidence for involvement of the neuro-ocular system, cerebrospinal fluid, gray matter, and white matter. A definitive pathophysiological mechanism remains elusive with investigation hampered by the limited number of study subjects, the logistical restrictions of examination during flight, the lack of terrestrial analogues, and the possible variability of individual susceptibility to the environmental challenge. The common underlying thread appears to be duration of exposure to a microgravity environment although anticipated future mission activities including frequent extravehicular activities may pose additional challenges, potentially even acting in a synergistic fashion to injuries induced by microgravity. Although neurocognitive symptoms have been documented, the operational significance of this central nervous system involvement remains speculative. This review covers the current status of space-associated structural changes with an extrapolation to possible relevant terrestrial analogues and potential impact on future missions.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Texas Health Sciences San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Stephen McGuire

Authors
  1. Stephen McGuire
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Correspondence to Stephen McGuire .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Pharmacy, Airlangga University, Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia

    Yashwant V. Pathak

  2. InnovaSpace Ltd, London, UK

    Marlise Araújo dos Santos

  3. BioServe Space Technologies, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

    Luis Zea

Section Editor information

  1. USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    Yashwant V. Pathak

  2. Faculty of Pharmacy, Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia

    Yashwant V. Pathak

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McGuire, S. (2022). Structural Brain Changes Associated with Space. In: Pathak, Y.V., Araújo dos Santos, M., Zea, L. (eds) Handbook of Space Pharmaceuticals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05526-4_48

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