Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, ELKH Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, 1117, Hungary.
Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, 1075, Hungary.
Sci Rep. 2021 May 5;11(1):9590. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-88938-6.
Although human adaptation to spaceflight has been studied for decades, little is known about its long-term effects on brain and behavior. The present study investigated visuospatial performance and associated electrophysiological responses in astronauts before, during, and after an approximately half-year long mission to the International Space Station. Here we report findings demonstrating that cognitive performance can suffer marked decrements during spaceflight. Astronauts were slower and more error-prone on orbit than on Earth, while event-related brain potentials reflected diminished attentional resources. Our study is the first to provide evidence for impaired performance during both the initial (~ 8 days) and later (~ 50 days) stages of spaceflight, without any signs of adaptation. Results indicate restricted adaptability to spaceflight conditions and calls for new research prior to deep space explorations.
尽管人类对太空飞行的适应能力已经研究了几十年，但对其对大脑和行为的长期影响知之甚少。本研究调查了宇航员在大约半年的国际空间站任务前后的视空间表现和相关的电生理反应。在这里，我们报告了一些发现，这些发现表明认知表现可能在太空飞行中明显下降。宇航员在轨道上比在地球上反应更慢，错误更多，而事件相关的脑电位反映了注意力资源的减少。我们的研究首次提供了证据，证明在太空飞行的初始阶段（约 8 天）和后期（约 50 天）都会出现表现受损，而没有任何适应的迹象。结果表明，对太空飞行条件的适应能力有限，呼吁在进行深空探索之前进行新的研究。
