Dataset Information

Alterations of Functional Brain Connectivity After Long-Duration Spaceflight as Revealed by fMRI.

ABSTRACT: The present study reports alterations of task-based functional brain connectivity in a group of 11 cosmonauts after a long-duration spaceflight, compared to a healthy control group not involved in the space program. To elicit the postural and locomotor sensorimotor mechanisms that are usually most significantly impaired when space travelers return to Earth, a plantar stimulation paradigm was used in a block design fMRI study. The motor control system activated by the plantar stimulation involved the pre-central and post-central gyri, SMA, SII/operculum, and, to a lesser degree, the insular cortex and cerebellum. While no post-flight alterations were observed in terms of activation, the network-based statistics approach revealed task-specific functional connectivity modifications within a broader set of regions involving the activation sites along with other parts of the sensorimotor neural network and the visual, proprioceptive, and vestibular systems. The most notable findings included a post-flight increase in the stimulation-specific connectivity of the right posterior supramarginal gyrus with the rest of the brain; a strengthening of connections between the left and right insulae; decreased connectivity of the vestibular nuclei, right inferior parietal cortex (BA40) and cerebellum with areas associated with motor, visual, vestibular, and proprioception functions; and decreased coupling of the cerebellum with the visual cortex and the right inferior parietal cortex. The severity of space motion sickness symptoms was found to correlate with a post- to pre-flight difference in connectivity between the right supramarginal gyrus and the left anterior insula. Due to the complex nature and rapid dynamics of adaptation to gravity alterations, the post-flight findings might be attributed to both the long-term microgravity exposure and to the readaptation to Earth's gravity that took place between the landing and post-flight MRI session. Nevertheless, the results have implications for the multisensory reweighting and gravitational motor system theories, generating hypotheses to be tested in future research.

SUBMITTER: Pechenkova E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6621543 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Alterations of Functional Brain Connectivity After Long-Duration Spaceflight as Revealed by fMRI.

Pechenkova Ekaterina E Nosikova Inna I Rumshiskaya Alena A Litvinova Liudmila L Rukavishnikov Ilya I Mershina Elena E Sinitsyn Valentin V Van Ombergen Angelique A Jeurissen Ben B Jillings Steven S Laureys Steven S Sijbers Jan J Grishin Alexey A Chernikova Ludmila L Naumov Ivan I Kornilova Ludmila L Wuyts Floris L FL Tomilovskaya Elena E Kozlovskaya Inessa I

Frontiers in physiology 20190704

The present study reports alterations of task-based functional brain connectivity in a group of 11 cosmonauts after a long-duration spaceflight, compared to a healthy control group not involved in the space program. To elicit the postural and locomotor sensorimotor mechanisms that are usually most significantly impaired when space travelers return to Earth, a plantar stimulation paradigm was used in a block design fMRI study. The motor control system activated by the plantar stimulation involved ...[more]

PMID: 31333476

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Project description:ImportanceLong-duration spaceflight induces structural changes in the brain and eye. Identification of an association between cerebral and ocular changes could help determine if there are common or independent causes and inform targeted prevention strategies or treatments.ObjectiveTo determine if there is an association between quantitative changes in intracranial compartment volumes and peripapillary total retinal thickness after spaceflight.Design, setting, and participantsThis cohort study included healthy International Space Station crew members before and immediately after long-duration spaceflight. Data on race were not collected. Analysis was conducted from September to November 2020.ExposuresLong-duration spaceflight (mean [SD], 191 [55] days).Main outcomes and measuresOptical coherence tomography-derived peripapillary total retinal thickness as a quantitative assessment and early sign of optic disc edema and magnetic resonance imaging-derived measures of lateral ventricle volume, white matter volume, and whole brain plus cerebrospinal fluid volume.ResultsIn 19 healthy crew members included in this study (5 women [26.3%], 14 men [73.7%]; mean [SD] age, 45.2 [6.4] years), analyses revealed a positive, although not definitive, association between spaceflight-induced changes in total retinal thickness and lateral ventricle volume (4.7-μm increase in postflight total retinal thickness [95% CI, -1.5 to 10.8 μm; P = .13] per 1-mL postflight increase in lateral ventricle volume). Adjustments for mission duration improved the strength of association (5.1 μm; 95% CI, -0.4 to 10.5 μm; P = .07). No associations were detected between spaceflight-induced changes in total retinal thickness and white matter volume (0.02 μm; 95% CI, -0.5 to 0.5 μm; P = .94) or brain tissue plus cerebrospinal fluid volume, an estimate of intracranial volume (0.02 μm; 95% CI, -0.6 to 0.6 μm; P = .95).Conclusions and relevanceThese results help characterize spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome and the physiologic associations of headward fluid shifts with outcomes during spaceflight on the central nervous system. The possibly weak association between increased total retinal thickness and lateral ventricle volume suggest that while weightlessness-induced fluid redistribution during spaceflight may be a common stressor to the brain and retina, the development of optic disc edema appears to be uncoupled with changes occurring in the intracranial compartment.

Dataset Information

Alterations of Functional Brain Connectivity After Long-Duration Spaceflight as Revealed by fMRI.

Publications

Alterations of Functional Brain Connectivity After Long-Duration Spaceflight as Revealed by fMRI.

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