That’s bad news for astronauts. Exposure to radiation, such as radiant in the cosmos, which bombard astronauts during long space voyages, to March for example, damages the central nervous system and causes permanent cognitive impairment, according to experiments on mice. According to Charles Limoli, the University of California at Irvine, lead author of the research published Friday in the journal Science Advances, “the decline in work capacity, memory deficits and loss of consciousness and concentration difficulties for flights in the space could affect the core activities of the mission “.
Worse,” the cosmic radiation could impair the cognitive abilities of astronauts throughout their life. ” For this research the scientists subjected mice to radiation of high energy particles at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. They found that these radiations caused an inflammation in the brains of rodents that disrupted the transmission of nerve signals.
Astronauts on the International Space Station fear nothing
Scans have revealed how the brain’s communication network been affected by reductions in neuron structure. Impairments of synapses that connect neurons, combined with other structural changes interfered with the ability of nerve cells to efficiently transmit electrochemical signals, the researchers explain. These phenomena corresponded to a decrease in performance in various assessment of learning ability tests and memorize.
Although such cognitive deficits in astronauts will not manifest for several months, the duration of a mission to Mars would be sufficient for such symptoms appear, according to Dr. Limoli. But, he explains, astronauts on the International Space Station ( ISS ), which stays of six months, are not exposed to as great intensity as they are protected by the magnetosphere land. For missions on Mars, one solution would be for the spacecraft include enhanced protection against cosmic radiation areas including resting places, said researchers.
No comments:
Post a Comment