AA << studied the brain after long-duration space flight. The authors performed serial MRI on 11 of 54 eligible International Space Station astronauts (10 men, one woman; five astronauts had previous exposure to spaceflight; mean mission duration almost 6 months), both preflight and at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after spaceflight. They found that prolonged microgravity exposure caused the following brain changes: (a) an approximate 2% expansion of brain and cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) volumes, attributable to both white matter and lateral ventricular measurements, and these remained elevated at 1-year after spaceflight, suggesting permanent alterations; (b) a 13% increase in mean CSF intraventricular (aqueductal) flow velocity, suggesting a reduction in intracranial compliance; and (c) in roughly half (six of 11 astronauts), depression of the pituitary dome compared with baseline (average midline height decreased from 5.9 to 5.3 mm), suggesting elevated intracranial pressure during spaceflight. >>
Michael H. Lev. The Long-term Effects of Spaceflight on Human Brain Physiology. Radiology. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2020201164. Apr 14, 2020.
https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/radiol.2020201164
Chelsea Gohd. Space travel can seriously change your brain. Apr 14, 2020.
https://www.space.com/brain-changes-in-space-astronaut-health-study.html
