Astronaut Brain Changes During Spaceflight

We analyzed MRI data from 32 astronauts from the NASA Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health Program, as well as 11 astronauts who participated in the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) project ‘Wayfinding’. This study was approved by the institutional review boards of NASA’s Johnson Space Center and the University of Calgary. All participants provided written informed consent, and NASA has reviewed this manuscript and ensured it is compliant with the privacy standards of the NASA Astronaut Office. Our sample was composed of 10 female and 33 male participants (Mean age = 47.79, SD = 5.06 years at launch). Seven participants underwent short ~14-day spaceflights and the remainder were on multi-month spaceflights (Mean mission duration = 158.27, SD = 79.08 days). All participants underwent MRI scans pre- (Mean days before launch = 381.69, SD = 213.66) and post- flight (Mean days after return = 6.68, SD = 5.79).