ArticleNPJ microgravity2025
Transient gray matter decline during antarctic isolation: Roles of sleep, exercise, and cognition.
Article in NPJ microgravity, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Multiscale Mechanisms of Exercise-Induced Neuroplasticity: From Molecular Pathways to Network Dynamics and Behavioral Adaptation.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Sensory Deprivation and the Brain: Neurobiological Mechanisms, Psychological Effects, and Clinical Implications.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Proximity measurements for objective assessments of crew cohesion in an antarctic space analog environment.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Neural changes in microgravity: Investigating the effects of aerospace environments.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
23 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Astronauts face significant stress in space, and understanding its neurobiological basis is key to assessing risk and resilience. Analogue environments, like the Antarctic Concordia Station, replicate isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) conditions. This study assessed brain structure changes in 25 crewmembers who spent 12 months at Concordia, with MRI scans conducted before, immediately after, and five months post-mission. The study included 25 controls scanned over a similar interval and 4 "flying phantom" individuals who were scanned at all sites. Gray matter in the temporal and parietal lobes, hippocampus, pallidum, and thalamus as well as global white matter decreased during the mission in crewmembers, with all but the thalamus returning to baseline after five months. Brain ventricle volume increased, and better sleep correlated with less brain volume loss, highlighting its potentially protective role. These findings emphasize the importance of understanding mechanisms driving brain changes, particularly with growing interest in extended space missions in ICE environments.
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.