Space Medicine: The Human Body In Outer Space (Effects; Risks)

[ramonmercado]

Astronauts Submit First Medical Research Paper from Space
09 Nov 2004

The first medical research paper submitted from the International Space Station (ISS) was published online today by the journal Radiology. The report documents the first ultrasound examination of the shoulder performed under the microgravity conditions of space flight.

Members of Expedition 9 crew aboard the ISS completed the study as part of the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity (ADUM) experiment.

"It is with great pleasure that we offer to the journal Radiology the first paper ever submitted from the ISS," said the study's lead author, ISS Science Officer E. Michael Fincke, M.S.

The ADUM experiment is being conducted to determine the accuracy of ultrasound in novel clinical conditions, to assess feasibility of ultrasound for monitoring in-flight musculoskeletal changes in crewmembers and to determine optimal training methods, including the use of remote guidance. While some aspects of the experiment are unique to space flight, Fincke believes the results are relevant to medical care on the ground. "The ADUM project has begun to provide a great and useful capability onboard the ISS with direct implications to improve life on Earth in the fields of emergency, rural and remote medicine," he said.

Astronauts experience a reduction in bone, muscle and tendon mass during prolonged exposure to microgravity, increasing their risk of injury. Strenuous physical labor during spacewalks and limited upper body and arm mobility in spacesuits make the shoulders particularly vulnerable. For this component of the ADUM experiment, the team evaluated the ability of a nonphysician crewmember on the ISS to obtain quality, shoulder musculokeletal data from another crewmember using real-time remote guidance. The crewmembers attended a 2¨ö-hour ultrasound training session four months before launch and completed a one-hour computer-based training program while onboard the space station.

The astronauts used special positioning, including foot restraints and hand pressure to adjust the examination to a microgravity environment. During the exam, real-time ultrasound video of the shoulder was transmitted to experienced sonologists in the Telescience Center at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The sonologists verbally guided the astronaut operator through probe manipulation and equipment adjustment to obtain optimal images for a complete rotator cuff evaluation. The exam was completed in less than 15 minutes. The downloaded images were subsequently reviewed by a musculoskeletal ultrasound specialist. Diagnostic image quality was excellent, and no indication of shoulder injury was found.

The findings indicate that fundamental training, combined with remote guidance from ultrasound experts, may be an effective method of performing diagnostic ultrasound exams in space, and may prove useful on Earth in situations where access to trained physicians and proper medical equipment is limited.

"The remotely guided ultrasound concept, with trained first responders as operators, is a significant and clinically relevant advancement in space science, with profound ramifications for emergency or clinical care," Fincke said.

The complete article and video images of the ultrasound examination being performed onboard the ISS may be accessed online at http://radiology.rsnajnls.org/cgi/content/full/2342041680v1. For further information, contact Maureen Morley or Doug Dusik at 630-590-7762.

Radiology is a monthly scientific journal devoted to clinical radiology and allied sciences. The journal is edited by Anthony V. Proto, M.D., School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va. Radiology is owned and published by the Radiological Society of North America, Inc. (http://www2.rsna.org/pr/rsna.org/radiologyjnl)

RSNA is an association of more than 35,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists and related scientists committed to promoting excellence in radiology through education and by fostering research, with the ultimate goal of improving patient care. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Ill. (http://www.rsna.org)

"Evaluation of Shoulder Integrity in Space: First Report of Musculoskeletal Ultrasound on the International Space Station." E. Michael Finke, M.S., Gennady Padalka, M.S., Doohi Lee, M.D., Ashot E. Sargsyan, M.D., Douglas R. Hamilton, M.D., Ph.D., David Martin, R.D.M.S., Shannon L. Melton, B.S., Kellie McFarlin, M.D., and Scott A. Dulchavsky, M.D., Ph.D.

Contact: Maureen Morley
[email protected]
630-590-7762
Radiological Society of North America

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=16055

I guess this rocket science. Pat C

 

[ramonmercado]

Traditional Chinese Medicine Applied In Space Flights


Beijing (SPX) Dec 05, 2005
Traditional Chinese medicine, has been widely used in counteracting space motion sickness in China's space flight missions. During space flight, there is up to a 50 percent chance for astronauts to feel space motion sickness.
However, during the five-day Shenzhou-6 mission, Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng always maintained sound physical conditions. Apart from specific exercises beforehand, traditional Chinese medicines also contributed.

Director of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center Chen Shan'guang says Traditional Chinese medicines proved to be effetive when pilots carry out space missions.

"Before astronauts go to space, they take traditional Chinese medicines which enhance their ability to maintain balance and improve their immune system. According to the feedback of the two Shenzhou-6 astronauts, these measures have had positive effects." Chen said.

In their everyday training, Chinese medicinal herbs, Chinese massage therapy and accupuncture have been used to improve astronauts' physical conditions. The China Astronaut Research and Training Centre is cooperating with the laboratory from the Chinese University of Hong Kong to better prevent the loss of calcium in bones during a zero-gravity situation.

Chen says China will continue to promote the use of traditional Chinese medicines on astronauts.

"We may continue to use Chinese medicines in China's manned-space flights and we will also promote traditional Chinese medicines in some international space missions to counteract the space motion sickness." he said.


http://www.spacedaily.com/news/dragonspace-05k.html

 

[ramonmercado]

First zero-gravity human surgery

The operation will be performed in 20-second periods

A team of French doctors is planning to carry out the first operation on a human being under "weightless" conditions in an adapted aircraft. It is hoped the trial will be a first step to performing surgery in space.

The doctors will be removing a benign tumour from the arm of a volunteer as their plane makes a series of swoops to mimic a reduced-gravity environment.

The surgeons will be working strapped to the sides of the plane while the patient is held inside a plastic tent.

Specially designed instruments have been fitted with magnets to attach them to the metal operating table.

Earthly spin-offs

The three-hour flight above south-west France will use a modified Airbus A300 known as "Zero-G". It flies parabolic curves that give its passengers 20-second periods of weightlessness.


The French doctors have already operated on a rat in zero-gravity

Both patient and medical team have been trained to cope with this free-fall environment in machines similar to those used by astronauts.

"Since February we have been rehearsing this operation on the ground and in the plane. It is all crystal clear in our heads," said chief surgeon Dominique Martin, quoted by AFP news agency.

It is the first time such an operation has been tried on a human being.

Earlier this year, Mr Martin and his team mended a artery in a rat's tail 0.5mm in diameter.

It is part of a long-term project to study the possibility of carrying out surgery during long-distance space flights, using robots in the spacecraft, guided by doctors on Earth via a satellite link.

The BBC's Valerie Jones says it will be many years before such technology would be needed - perhaps on long flights to Mars; but the researchers say there could be a spin-off for Earth.

The equipment could be used for emergencies in confined locations such as caves or in buildings toppled by earthquakes.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5383764.stm

 

[ramonmercado]

Doctors remove tumour in first zero-g surgery
15:32 27 September 2006
NewScientist.com news service

French doctors carried out the world's first ever operation on a human in zero gravity on Wednesday, using a specially adapted aircraft to simulate conditions in space.

During a 3-hour flight from Bordeaux in southwest France, the team of surgeons and anaesthetists successfully removed a benign tumour from the forearm of a 46-year-old volunteer.

The experiment was part of a programme backed by the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop techniques for performing robotic surgery aboard the International Space Station or at a future Moon base.

"We weren't trying to perform technical feats but to carry out a feasibility test," said team leader Dominique Martin after the flight. "Now we know that a human being can be operated on in space without too many difficulties."

The custom-designed Airbus 300 aircraft – dubbed Zero-G – performed a series of parabolic swoops, creating about 20 seconds of weightlessness at the top of each curve. The process was repeated 32 times.

Lunar surgeries
Strapped inside a custom-made operating block, three surgeons and two anaesthetists worked during these brief bursts, using magnets to hold their instruments in place around the patient's stretcher.

"If we'd had two hours of zero gravity at a stretch, we could have removed an appendix," Martin said.

A similar experiment was carried out in October 2003 but the operation then was to mend a 0.5-millimetre-wide artery in a rat's tail.

The next phase of the programme is to carry out a remote-controlled operation using a robot whose commands are sent from the ground via satellite. This experiment should take place within a year, Martin said.

Anaesthetist Laurent de Coninck said that zero-gravity surgery offered huge promise for space exploration, although at first it would be limited to treating simple injuries.

World space agencies hope that by 2020 a permanently inhabited base can be established on the Moon to conduct research, exploit lunar resources and learn to live off the lunar land. Such a base would also test technologies for voyages to Mars.

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn10169-doctors-remove-tumour-in-first-zerog-surgery-.html

 

[ramonmercado]

Space Medicine, The Final Frontier
Main Category: Pain / Anesthetics News
Article Date: 08 Nov 2006 - 1:00am (PST)

On Mars, Earth probably looks like a pinprick in the sky, a bluish-green ball some 140 million miles away. But before astronauts can glimpse the view from the red planet, doctors must better understand how to handle medical problems and surgeries in space, University of Florida researchers say.

Now preliminary findings from a UF study show there is little difference in the dose of general anesthesia needed to anesthetize patients in weightless or normal gravity environments. It's a major step forward, but just one of many hurdles researchers face in trying to establish proper medical protocols in space, UF researchers write in the October issue of the Journal of Gravitational Physiology.

"There are lots of little technical things that have to be thought through and tried out in order to translate what we consider normal medical care into a space environment," said Christoph Seubert, lead author of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration-funded study and a UF assistant professor of anesthesiology. "What (anesthesia) you use and how the drugs react is only a small part of the picture."

On shorter missions to orbit the Earth or to travel to the International Space Station, astronauts could get back to ground within a day if a medical emergency arose, but from Mars or even a lunar base, that's not possible, Seubert said. Depending where it is in orbit, the space station is usually 200 to 600 miles from the Earth's surface. The moon is about 238,000 miles from Earth.

Mars, meanwhile, varies in distance from 35 million miles to more than 200 million miles away from the Earth, depending on its orbit, but is on average about 140 million miles away. A trip to the red planet would likely be a three-year endeavor for astronauts, Seubert said.

French doctors recently performed the first surgery in weightless conditions, operating during an airplane flight designed to mimic weightlessness. However, they used a local anesthetic and doctors still need to understand the effects of general anesthesia, the method of sedation used in most surgeries. Prior to UF's study, the only real data showing how weightlessness affects general anesthesia came from a mission in which two Rhesus monkeys were sent to space. When the monkeys returned to Earth, surgeons performed minor biopsies on them as part of their study. One of the monkeys died, presumably because of an interaction with anesthesia, Seubert said.

So far, UF researchers have found no distinct differences providing anesthesia intravenously in simulated weightless or normal gravity conditions. Seubert said differences are actually greater between individuals, who require varying amounts of anesthesia, a phenomenon that happens no matter where the surgery occurs.

To simulate weightlessness, participants in the ongoing UF study are confined to strict bed rest, with their bodies tilted six degrees head down.

"The normal gravitational vector is from the head to the feet, so if you put somebody slightly head down, that completely offloads the musculature, the skeleton and the circulation, and it causes adaptations in bone, muscle and circulation that are very similar to real spaceflight, minus the nausea that comes with not having gravity," Seubert said.

Aside from understanding how anesthesia affects the body during and after spaceflight, researchers also must analyze even the smallest details to ensure astronauts receive proper medical care in outer space, Seubert said. On Earth, when patients are given anesthesia through intravenous tubes, the bags hang from racks and gravity pushes up any air bubbles that may be mixed in with the drug. In space, however, air bubbles and medicine would mingle, potentially allowing bubbles to be infused into patients, Seubert said.

Medicine taken orally also seems to work differently in space, Seubert said. This could be because spaceflight is a nauseating experience, and nausea may affect the digestion of drugs taken by mouth, he added.

Seubert's findings pinpoint all the issues physicians must face in order to care for patients during and after trips to space, said Jonathan Clark, M.D., a space liaison for the National Space Biomedical Research Institute and president of the Space Medicine Association.

"Given that commercial spaceflight is about to take off, I think this is a very important paper," Clark said. "I think this article should be required for anyone who is providing (medical) support (to astronauts)."

Although Clark said he thinks the first mission to Mars is probably at least 20 to 30 years away, scientists still have much to do to ensure astronauts receive proper medical care, whether they are on Mars, the moon or back on Earth.

"The most important thing is to define what to treat (in space) and how to do so," Seubert said. "There are a lot of things we can do to make this better."

###

Contact: April Frawley Birdwell
University of Florida
http://www.ufl.edu/

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/
Link is dead. Original article can't be located at the news site.

 

[ramonmercado]

What if it goes HAL?

Self-help software to soothe stressed astronauts
17:14 25 August 2008
NewScientist.com news service
Devin Powell

The Virtual Space Station's interpersonal conflict management module offers mutliple-choice responses to different problems that may arise. In this scenario, an actor playing a fellow crew member accidentally unplugs a critical computer and asks the user to cover up the mistake. The user must choose from the above responses, then a research discusses the choice and suggests what could have been done differently.

When astronauts in orbit stress out, they call Earth to chat with a NASA psychiatrist. But transmitting messages to Mars and beyond would take 20 minutes or so, requiring new approaches to mental health in space. So researchers are developing self-help software that allows space travellers to carry their counsellors with them on a DVD.

Astronauts and cosmonauts go through psychological screening before they are selected for duty, and they are trained to deal with the pressures of risky space missions. Proposed crewed missions to Mars, though, would be a challenge even for these hardened space farers.

Each leg of the trip would take at least six months, and the entire mission could last up to three years. Astronauts would live in cramped quarters, their actions constantly monitored and scheduled by others. They would face monotonous days in empty space with nothing to do and nowhere to go if something went wrong.

"It will be a bit like prison," says Steven Suedfeld of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

Messages to and from Earth would take up to 20 minutes to relay – so travellers to Mars would be, in many ways, on their own.

So James Carter of Harvard Medical School and colleagues are creating a new self-help tool that the astronauts can take with them – a piece of multimedia-heavy software called the "Virtual Space Station".

It asks crew members to respond to multiple-choice questions about how to handle various problems that may arise in space and to make lists of their worries and how to solve them. It focuses on mental health challenges that were highlighted by a panel of 11 astronauts.

Multiple choice
One element of the Virtual Space Station is an interpersonal conflict widget designed by Leonard Greenhalgh of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Its interactive videos ask the user to negotiate and resolve conflicts. In one scenario, for example, an actor playing a fellow crew member accidentally unplugs a critical computer and asks the user to cover up the mistake.

The user picks a series of responses, and Greenhalgh appears and suggests what could have been done differently. "It's like a choose-your-own-adventure book," says Carter.

Such a program might have helped prevent fistfights that broke out among Russian study participants in 2001 in a long-term isolation chamber experiment meant to mimic the conditions in space. When two groups of the participants were released for a New Year's party, fights ensued.

These videos – meant to help astronauts develop self-awareness of their own behaviours – have already been used to train groups of new astronauts. Further group studies will test their effectiveness in other stressful professions that rely on teamwork: first responders to emergencies and fire-fighters.

Practical solutions
The second module of the Virtual Space Station focuses on depression, using an approach called "problem-solving therapy", which is both clinically effective and relatively simple to encode into a software program.

Instead of asking astronauts to reflect on their feelings, Mark Hegel of Dartmouth Medical School has them create lists of concrete things that are bothering them and brainstorm about practical ways to solve them. At the end of the exercise, users fill out a form used to diagnose depression.

Clinical tests of this approach, which has never been tried in a multimedia self-help format, will start in a few months, using subjects recruited from the biomedical and engineering community in Boston.The Virtual Space Station team hopes that their tool will prove useful not only for the space community, but for any ventures that operate in similarly bleak conditions – like scientists working for months in Antarctica. The research was presented earlier this month at the American Psychological Association's annual convention in Boston.

http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn14595-selfhelp-software-to-soothe-stressed-astronauts.html

 

[skinny]

I recently read or heard somewhere that astronauts experience natural dopamine highs akin to an acid trip when in space. This brain response is to be expected, to some extent, given the stress of the launch journey and the strangeness of the environment. However, I am curious as to whether their capacity to steady themselves under highly altered states of consciousness was factored into the astronaut testing and mission selection processes. I imagine it would have been fundamental but haven't heard much on this aspect of astro prep.

If so, it seems a few dreamers might have slipped through the cracks.
eg
I feel like a million dollars - Ed White (first spacewalk; Gemini 4)
Ed Mitchell's total unity epiphany on return from lunar landing; Apollo 14 leading directly to his extensive pursuit of quantum hologram theory
Charlie Duke's transformation into a protestant minister for the Christian religion

And I've just re watched this Armstrong/Apollo filmstrip I made about ten years ago where this idea was not my intent, but I see now it could be implied.

I aim to research further in time but am hopeful that anybody's knowledge of this question (EG?...) can give me some directions. Please contribute.

cheers
skinny

 

[EnolaGaia]

The first thing that comes to mind is the experiences of those who've done spacewalks (EVAs aloft).

It would be interesting to find out whether the first spacewalker - Alexei Leonov - ever mentioned any emotional / transcendent feelings when becoming the first person to exit a spacecraft and float in space. I'm not aware that he did, perhaps because there were technical problems with his spacewalk (he had significant and risky problems getting back into the Voskhod capsule).

I watched the Ed White spacewalk live (with comm chatter), and I've seen it multiple times afterward. I don't recall thinking he was anything but business-like in his EVA.

Bruce McCandless - the first astronaut to perform an untethered EVA - mentioned feeling some personal elation, but it was tempered by all the radio chatter bombarding him from 3 separate comm links.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_McCandless_II

 

[EnolaGaia]

... I am curious as to whether their capacity to steady themselves under highly altered states of consciousness was factored into the astronaut testing and mission selection processes. I imagine it would have been fundamental but haven't heard much on this aspect of astro prep.

I'm pretty confident this issue (at least in physiological terms such as dopamine / serotonin) wasn't on anyone's astronaut / cosmonaut testing agenda for the first few generations of astronaut candidates (i.e., in the Sixties). AFAIK the roles of dopamine and serotonin weren't understood at the time.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Some more random thoughts ...

Why are you connecting the idea of a somatic 'high' with dopamine specifically? I'd be interested in learning where you received the notion it must be all about dopamine.

Dopamine does induce a 'feel-good' state of psychosomatic arousal, but this is more or less specific to dopamine production in the brain. Dopamine is also produced and processed elsewhere in the body. However, dopamine can't pass the blood / brain barrier. This means there may be multiple sites of dopamine production / influence throughout the body, each of which may be subject to different levels of stimulation and all of which are subject to circumstances.

There are multiple bases for suggesting space flight is inimical to dopamine and its effects. Increased exposure to radiation actually destroys dopamine. The influence of dopamine is related to psychomotor actions and is most influential for known / routine actions or activities. This influence can be diminished in weightless conditions where familiar muscular movements, gestures, and proprioceptive (own-body) sensations have to be re-learned or re-calibrated to deal with micro-gravity. Dopamine can help trigger changes in vascular constriction / relaxation, but I don't think vascular effects of weightlessness would reciprocally effect / affect dopamine production. Even if it did, dopamine in the bloodstream wouldn't make it into the brain.

 

[Mythopoeika]

The feeling of being 'high' may not simply be due to a psychological reaction to the amazing experience.
There may be other factors involved, such as the gas mix used in the spacecraft's air.
Typically, it would be a a high concentration of oxygen, but at a reduced air pressure (similar to breathing air at the top of a mountain).
That kind of thing can induce euphoria.

 

[skinny]

Why are you connecting the idea of a somatic 'high' with dopamine specifically? I'd be interested in learning where you received the notion it must be all about dopamine.

You n me both. Thanks for your thoughts. I hadn’t considered that these were unknown brain functions at the time. I knew there had been a lot of research into lsd effects since at least the late 50s. Natural hormonal highs resulting from stress may not have been known, as you say.

I never said it was all about dopamine. I merely put the idea out there from a vague memory of having read about it and wondered if anybody else had heard / read info related to my questions. It’s a valid query. I hope to have my general notions honed to a fine point based on facts sooner or later.

Right now, I’m looking for general directions for reading. I will post whatever I find too once I have some spare time.

Happy Day

 

[Naughty_Felid]

Some more random thoughts ...

Why are you connecting the idea of a somatic 'high' with dopamine specifically? I'd be interested in learning where you received the notion it must be all about dopamine.

Dopamine does induce a 'feel-good' state of psychosomatic arousal, but this is more or less specific to dopamine production in the brain. Dopamine is also produced and processed elsewhere in the body. However, dopamine can't pass the blood / brain barrier. This means there may be multiple sites of dopamine production / influence throughout the body, each of which may be subject to different levels of stimulation and all of which are subject to circumstances.

There are multiple bases for suggesting space flight is inimical to dopamine and its effects. Increased exposure to radiation actually destroys dopamine. The influence of dopamine is related to psychomotor actions and is most influential for known / routine actions or activities. This influence can be diminished in weightless conditions where familiar muscular movements, gestures, and proprioceptive (own-body) sensations have to be re-learned or re-calibrated to deal with micro-gravity. Dopamine can help trigger changes in vascular constriction / relaxation, but I don't think vascular effects of weightlessness would reciprocally effect / affect dopamine production. Even if it did, dopamine in the bloodstream wouldn't make it into the brain.

Came here to mention this. A "high" isn't just based on dopamine. There are other neurotransmitters at play and more importantly there are receptors at play.

 

[Naughty_Felid]

You n me both. Thanks for your thoughts. I hadn’t considered that these were unknown brain functions at the time. I knew there had been a lot of research into lsd effects since at least the late 50s. Natural hormonal highs resulting from stress may not have been known, as you say.

I never said it was all about dopamine. I merely put the idea out there from a vague memory of having read about it and wondered if anybody else had heard / read info related to my questions. It’s a valid query. I hope to have my general notions honed to a fine point based on facts sooner or later.

Right now, I’m looking for general directions for reading. I will post whatever I find too once I have some spare time.

Happy Day

A good idea is to read about psychopharmacology if you are interested in the brain and how it operates.

 

[bugmum]

Coincidence! I'm currently playing about with dopamine at work!

 

[hunck]

Coincidence! I'm currently playing about with dopamine at work!

Shouldn't you just be getting on with your job?

 

[bugmum]

Shouldn't you just be getting on with your job?

It's an option. I'll give it some serious consideration.

 

[IamSundog]

I read in Andrew Chaiken’s A Man on the Moon that Ed White’s spacewalk was a near disaster - he couldn’t get back into the Gemini capsule because the stiffness of his spacesuit prevented him from bending his body as needed. This went on for quite some time and due to exertion and anxiety his heart and respiratory rate reached dangerous levels.
Also in that book I keenly remember a bit about Alan Bean who walked on the moon in Apollo 12. He described how their time on the moon was so rigidly scheduled that there was not a spare moment to just experience it, and it felt essentially no different than the thousands of simulations and rehearsals they’d done. So at one point he just stopped what he was doing, looked up at the Earth for a few seconds, and said to himself “I’m really here in the moon!”

 

[skinny]

An older short article from 2008 referring to research. Am on the trail.

Posted on May 22, 2008 by Ian O'Neill
The Human Brain in Space: Euphoria and the “Overview Effect” Experienced by Astronauts

On March 6th, 1969, Rusty Schweikart experienced a feeling that the whole universe was profoundly connected. At the time, he was on a postponed space walk outside his Apollo 9 Lunar Module, carrying out tests for the forthcoming Moon landings. Already having suffered from space sickness (hence delaying the EVA) he felt a euphoric sensation:

“When you go around the Earth in an hour and a half, you begin to recognize that your identity is with that whole thing. That makes a change… it comes through to you so powerfully that you’re the sensing element for Man.” – Russell “Rusty” Schweikart.

https://www.universetoday.com/14455...he-overview-effect-experienced-by-astronauts/

 

[EnolaGaia]

Coincidentally ... This newly posted Scientific American opinion piece suggests how dopamine may indeed be involved in stimulating astronauts. It also clarifies that dopamine is most associated with mental stimulation, new knowledge and exploration rather than simply "feeling good."

The Science of Nerdiness

Do you get excited and energized by the possibility of learning something new and complex? Do you get turned on by nuance? Do you get really stimulated by new ideas and imaginative scenarios?

If so, you may have an influx of dopamine in your synapses, but not where we traditionally think of this neurotransmitter flowing.

In general, the potential for growth from disorder has been encoded deeply into our DNA. We didn’t only evolve the capacity to regulate our defensive and destructive impulses, but we also evolved the capacity to make sense of the unknown. Engaging in exploration allows us to integrate novel or unexpected events with existing knowledge and experiences, a process necessary for growth. ...

Dopamine production is essential for growth. But there are so many misconceptions about the role of dopamine in cognition and behavior. Dopamine is often labeled the “feel-good molecule,” but this is a gross mischaracterization of this neurotransmitter. As personality neuroscientist Colin DeYoung (a close colleague of mine) notes, dopamine is actually the “neuromodulator of exploration.” Dopamine’s primary role is to make us want things, not necessarily like things. We get the biggest rush of dopamine coursing through our brains at the possibility of reward, but this rush is no guarantee that we’ll actually like or even enjoy the thing once we get it. Dopamine is a huge energizing force in our lives, driving our motivation to explore and facilitating the cognitive and behavioral processes that allow us to extract the most delights from the unknown. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-science-of-nerdiness/

 

[EnolaGaia]

After 60 years of space flight we have learned a lot about how the space environment affects or can affect the human body.

This CNN interactive quiz tests how well you know and understand what's been learned so far and what's believed to be the real effects of exposure to or long-term living in outer space.

Your body in space

Ever look at the stars and dream of traveling to one? Humans are already living in space – in the International Space Station 254 miles above Earth – and space agencies are busy plotting a future visit to Mars.

It’s no longer science fiction to imagine humans living permanently in deep space, but would you be ready for it? Test your knowledge of space with CNN’s Your Body in Space quiz.

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/08/world/human-body-in-space-quiz-scn/

 

[Anonymous34905]

After 60 years of space flight we have learned a lot about how the space environment affects or can affect the human body.

This CNN interactive quiz tests how well you know and understand what's been learned so far and what's believed to be the real effects of exposure to or long-term living in outer space.

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/08/world/human-body-in-space-quiz-scn/

I enjoyed that! Found it really interesting, thanks. I got 6 out of 9 which is ok I suppose!

 

[ramonmercado]

Keeping your eyes healthy in space.

Scientists have developed a hi-tech sleeping bag that could prevent the vision problems that some astronauts experience while living in space.

In zero-gravity, fluids float into the head and squash the eyeball over time. It's regarded as one of the riskiest medical problems affecting astronauts, with some experts concerned it could compromise missions to Mars.

The sleeping bag sucks fluid out of the head and towards the feet, countering the pressure build-up. Its development was led by Dr Benjamin Levine, professor of internal medicine at University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, who is working on having the device deployed on the International Space Station (ISS).

Nasa has documented vision problems in more than half the astronauts who served for at least six months on the International Space Station (ISS). Some became far-sighted, had difficulty reading, and sometimes needed crewmates to assist in experiments.

"We don't know how bad the effects might be on a longer flight, like a two-year Mars operation," said Prof Levine, who is also director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine, a collaboration between UT Southwestern and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59591301

 

[EnolaGaia]

Newly published research indicates astronauts are subject to neural rewiring when spending extended periods in zero gravity.

Signs of 'Significant' Brain Rewiring Have Been Found in Space Travelers

There's still lots to explore and learn about the effects that space travel has on the body – and it seems those effects include some neuron rewiring that goes on in the brain.

Researchers studying the brains of 12 cosmonauts found what they describe as "significant microstructural changes" in the white matter that manages communications within the brain, and to and from the rest of the body.

The data were obtained through diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) scans taken just before and right after the time participants spent in space, which lasted an average of 172 days. Further scans were carried out seven months later, and while there was a reversal of some changes, a few of them were still visible.

Specifically, the team found changes in neural tracts related to sensory and motor functions, and speculate this could have something to do with the cosmonauts' adaptation to life in microgravity. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/the-br...et-rewired-to-adapt-to-their-new-environments

 

[EnolaGaia]

Here are the bibliographic details and abstract from the published report. The full report is accessible at the link below.

---

Doroshin Andrei, Jillings Steven, Jeurissen Ben, Tomilovskaya Elena, Pechenkova Ekaterina, Nosikova Inna, et al.
Brain Connectometry Changes in Space Travelers After Long-Duration Spaceflight
Frontiers in Neural Circuits. Volume 16 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2022.815838

Abstract
Humans undergo extreme physiological changes when subjected to long periods of weightlessness, and as we continue to become a space-faring species, it is imperative that we fully understand the physiological changes that occur in the human body, including the brain. In this study, we present findings of brain structural changes associated with long-duration spaceflight based on diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) data. Twelve cosmonauts who spent an average of six months aboard the International Space Station (ISS) were scanned in an MRI scanner pre-flight, ten days after flight, and at a follow-up time point seven months after flight. We performed differential tractography, a technique that confines white matter fiber tracking to voxels showing microstructural changes. We found significant microstructural changes in several large white matter tracts, such as the corpus callosum, arcuate fasciculus, corticospinal, corticostriatal, and cerebellar tracts. This is the first paper to use fiber tractography to investigate which specific tracts exhibit structural changes after long-duration spaceflight and may direct future research to investigate brain functional and behavioral changes associated with these white matter pathways.

SOURCE / FULL REPORT: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncir.2022.815838/full

 

[EnolaGaia]

Bone mass losses during space missions is significant, and recovery is neither quick nor complete.

New Study Reveals Devastating Effect on Astronaut Bones From Living in Space

Astronauts lose decades' worth of bone mass in space that many do not recover even after a year back on Earth, researchers said Thursday, warning that it could be a "big concern" for future missions to Mars.

Previous research has shown astronauts lose between 1 to 2 percent of bone density for every month spent in space, as the lack of gravity takes the pressure off their legs when it comes to standing and walking.

To find out how astronauts recover once their feet are back on the ground, a new study scanned the wrists and ankles of 17 astronauts before, during and after a stay on the International Space Station.

The bone density lost by astronauts was equivalent to how much they would shed in several decades if they were back on Earth ...

The researchers found that the shinbone density of nine of the astronauts had not fully recovered after a year on Earth – and were still lacking around a decade's worth of bone mass.

The astronauts who went on the longest missions, which ranged from four to seven months on the ISS, were the slowest to recover. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/new-st...effect-on-astronaut-bones-from-being-in-space

 

[EnolaGaia]

Here are the bibliographic details and abstract for the published research report. The full report is accessible at the link below.

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Gabel, L., Liphardt, AM., Hulme, P.A. et al.
Incomplete recovery of bone strength and trabecular microarchitecture at the distal tibia 1 year after return from long duration spaceflight.
Sci Rep 12, 9446 (2022).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-13461-1

Abstract
Determining the extent of bone recovery after prolonged spaceflight is important for understanding risks to astronaut long-term skeletal health. We examined bone strength, density, and microarchitecture in seventeen astronauts (14 males; mean 47 years) using high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT; 61 μm). We imaged the tibia and radius before spaceflight, at return to Earth, and after 6- and 12-months recovery and assessed biomarkers of bone turnover and exercise. Twelve months after flight, group median tibia bone strength (F.Load), total, cortical, and trabecular bone mineral density (BMD), trabecular bone volume fraction and thickness remained − 0.9% to − 2.1% reduced compared with pre-flight (p ≤ 0.001). Astronauts on longer missions (> 6-months) had poorer bone recovery. For example, F.Load recovered by 12-months post-flight in astronauts on shorter (< 6-months; − 0.4% median deficit) but not longer (− 3.9%) missions. Similar disparities were noted for total, trabecular, and cortical BMD. Altogether, nine of 17 astronauts did not fully recover tibia total BMD after 12-months. Astronauts with incomplete recovery had higher biomarkers of bone turnover compared with astronauts whose bone recovered. Study findings suggest incomplete recovery of bone strength, density, and trabecular microarchitecture at the weight-bearing tibia, commensurate with a decade or more of terrestrial age-related bone loss.

SOURCE / FULL REPORT: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-13461-1