Cosmonaut Brain

 

A Belgian study, doing brain scans of 11 cosmonauts (who had each spent around 6 months in orbit), has revealed that this organ shows a degree of plasticity when it attempts to deal with weightlessness (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/sep/04/scans-reveal-how-brain-adapts-to-life-in-space). Cerebrospinal fluid is re-distributed in ventricles of the brain (and is a probable cause of visual problems in space travellers). Three neural areas, associated with movement (the primary motor cortex, the cerebellum and the basal ganglia), also showed increases in their white and grey matter (the traveller has to learn different ways of moving). The study emphasises the need to fully understand the effects of space flight on the physiology of the body (this may be important in space and when the individual return to Earth).