ReviewNPJ microgravity2021
A review of alterations to the brain during spaceflight and the potential relevance to crew in long-duration space exploration.
Review in NPJ microgravity, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effect of spaceflight experience on human brain structure, microstructure, and function: systematic review of neuroimaging studies.Brain imaging and behavior · 2024Pooled it
- Simulated microgravity induces aging phenotypes in human organoids.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Neurological complications in microgravity and long duration spaceflight.NPJ microgravity · 2026Review
- Influence of gravity variations on the activity of neuronal spheroids in an acoustic trap.NPJ microgravity · 2026Article
- Multimodal Quantitative MRI of White and Gray Matter: Associations with Myelin-Related Metrics in the Healthy Adult Brain Using Synthetic MRI and IVIM-DWI.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Radiation-induced neurotoxicity: investigating human neuronal damage in MEA-integrated microfluidic platforms.RSC advances · 2026Article
- Sensory Deprivation and the Brain: Neurobiological Mechanisms, Psychological Effects, and Clinical Implications.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Spaceflight human optimization and performance: positioning astronauts in an operational framework to promote health, fitness, and mission readiness.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Review
- Neural activation is enhanced with operational task ecological validity during complex cognitive tasks.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Neural changes in microgravity: Investigating the effects of aerospace environments.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2025Review
- Sensory network segregation as a predictor of post spaceflight balance impairments and sensory re-weighting.NPJ microgravity · 2025Article
- Brain power comparison between microgravity and head-down tilt bed rest: an electroencephalography approach.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Neural correlates of vestibular adaptation in cosmonauts after long duration spaceflight.NPJ microgravity · 2025Article
- Hippocampal Volumetric Changes in Astronauts Following a Mission in the International Space Station.NeuroSci · 2025Article
- Brains in space: impact of microgravity and cosmic radiation on the CNS during space exploration.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2025Review
- Adoption of microfluidic MEA technology for electrophysiology of 3D neuronal networks exposed to suborbital conditions.NPJ microgravity · 2025Article
- Changes of EEG beta band power and functional connectivity during spaceflight: a retrospective study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Behavioral and multiomics analysis of 3D clinostat simulated microgravity effect in mice focusing on the central nervous system.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Space exploration and risk of Parkinson's disease: a perspective review.NPJ microgravity · 2025Review
- taVNS as a potential countermeasure for neurocognitive decline in microgravity.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
During spaceflight, the central nervous system (CNS) is exposed to a complex array of environmental stressors. However, the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the CNS and the resulting impact to crew health and operational performance remain largely unknown. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding spaceflight-associated changes to the brain as measured by magnetic resonance imaging, particularly as they relate to mission duration. Numerous studies have reported macrostructural changes to the brain after spaceflight, including alterations in brain position, tissue volumes and cerebrospinal fluid distribution and dynamics. Changes in brain tissue microstructure and connectivity were also described, involving regions related to vestibular, cerebellar, visual, motor, somatosensory and cognitive function. Several alterations were also associated with exposure to analogs of spaceflight, providing evidence that brain changes likely result from cumulative exposure to multiple independent environmental stressors. Whereas several studies noted that changes to the brain become more pronounced with increasing mission duration, it remains unclear if these changes represent compensatory phenomena or maladaptive dysregulations. Future work is needed to understand how spaceflight-associated changes to the brain affect crew health and performance, with the goal of developing comprehensive monitoring and countermeasure strategies for future long-duration space exploration.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.