(Image by Okan Caliskan from Pixabay)
[Editor's note: This story originally was published by Real Clear Science.]
By Ross Pomeroy
Rea Clear Science
Space can make humans insufferable.
Despite humanity's meager history of space travel, over which only a few hundred individuals have ventured beyond the cozy confines of Earth's atmosphere to the great vacuum beyond, we've already had numerous examples of misbehavior. During the Skylab 4, Apollo 9, and Apollo 13 missions, the American astronauts all became extremely annoyed with each other, rising to heated discord. The problems were so great on Apollo 13 that NASA personnel back on Earth strongly considered aborting the mission altogether shortly after take-off (and before the mission's fateful malfunction).
What triggered these behavioral shenanigans, out of character for such highly trained astronauts? Stressors like confinement, uncomfortable spacecraft temperatures, altered circadian rhythms, isolation from loved ones, heavy workloads, space motion sickness, and a bland diet likely all factored in. Another potential cause, recently explored in a review article published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, is microgravity. Much lower gravity than we're used to on Earth reshapes the brain, which in turn can worsen our behavior.
Dr. Elisa Raffaella Ferrè, a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of London, and Iqra Arshad, a postgraduate research student also with the University of London, reviewed the scientific literature to probe the impact of low-gravity on human behavior. Microgravity broadly causes the brain to shift upwards in the skull, alters the level of white matter, and thins occipital areas of the brain responsible for visual perception. Brain functional connectivity is also detrimentally affected.
All of these changes most profoundly affect how we sense and interact with the world around us. In microgravity, balance, coordination, reflexes, and vision are all impaired, especially early on. About 70% of astronauts experience Space Motion Sickness, a miserable condition involving dizziness, vertigo, headaches, cold sweating, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting. Neurological adaptation mostly quells the condition after about five days, but small sensorimotor deficits linger on.
Brain changes also impact cognitive function. Studies, including one involving astronaut identical twins Mark and Scott Kelly, show impairments in learning and decision-making.
It is likely due to both cognitive and sensorimotor deficits that human behavior tends to worsen in microgravity. Not being able to perform to the level one desires can make anybody cranky. Another group of scientists from the University of Michigan and the University of Florida even came up with a catchy acronym to describe when someone is adversely affected by microgravity: Spaceflight Perturbation Adaptation Coupled with Dysfunction (SPACeD).
They noted, however, that the brain is a highly plastic organ, readily capable of re-organizing itself. Given enough time in microgravity, and with the aid of salubrious activities like sleep, mental stimulation, and exercise, the brain adapts, improving our bodily functioning and reducing the odds that intrepid space explorers on extended missions will be downright irritable.
[Editor's note: This story originally was published by Real Clear Science.]
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