Why astronauts have a ‘puffy head’ in photos taken in space: Time spent in microgravity causes liquid to accumulate in their brains – and they may suffer vision problems as a result
- Micro-gravity has effects on the brain that could take a few months to wear off
- Spaceflight changes the way fluids shift in the brain’s ventricles, the study said
- They scanned the brains of 11 cosmonauts before and after they went to space
- When they returned home, the volume of their ventricles had increased by an average of more than 11 per cent to accommodate the extra fluid
Going into space can cause astronauts and cosmonauts to have a ‘puffy head’ and lead to vision problems months after their return to Earth.
Researchers found that spaceflight changes the way fluids shift in the brain’s ventricles, hollow cavities in the brain that allow fluid to flow.
They found that microgravity had pushed the fluid in these ventricles upwards causing them to slightly expand in three ventricles in the brains.
They scanned the brains of 11 Russian male cosmonauts before and after going to space to determine the effects being in space has on the brain.
Each one had spent around six months in space. On their return the expanded vessels began to shrink back to normal, but only after a matter of months.
Scroll down for video
Going into space can cause astronauts and cosmonauts to retain liquid in their heads causing them to have vision problems when they return to Earth. Pictured, Chris Hadfield on Earth (left) and looking puffy and pink aboard the ISS (right)
When the cosmonauts returned home, they found that the volume of their ventricles had increased by an average of more than 11 per cent to accommodate the extra fluid.
The team also found a link between the volume of one of the four ventricles and loss of visual acuity, although they conceded that more evidence is needed.
An eye condition called called Spaceflight Neuroocular Syndrome (SANS) has been on NASA’s radar for years, who have been studying the affect microgravity has on astronaut eyesight.
About 30 per cent of astronauts on short-term space shuttle flights and 60 per cent on long-duration missions to the ISS have reported some impairment to their vision.
Health risks like these are a significant barrier to deep space habitation, according to NASA’s Human Research Roadmap.
Experts found that microgravity had pushed the fluid in these ventricles upwards causing them to slightly expand in three ventricles in the brains. They scanned the brains of 11 Russian cosmonauts before and after to determine the effects being in space (piucturef)
When the cosmonauts returned home, they found that the volume of their ventricles had increased by an average of more than 11 per cent to accommodate the extra fluid. This graph shows their findings
On Earth, gravity pulls all your bodily fluids down towards your feet. In space, that’s not the case.
‘As soon as you enter microgravity, bodily fluids flow to the upper part of the body,’ Angelique Van Ombergen at the University of Antwerp in Belgium told the New Scientist.
‘That’s why when you see pictures of astronauts on the space station they look like they have a puffy head.’
They found that when the cosmonauts returned home, the volume of their ventricles had increased by an average of more than 11 per cent to accommodate the extra fluid flowing into their heads in microgravity.
Even about seven months later, the ventricles were more than 6 per cent bigger than before the cosmonauts launched.
Although they found a correlation between the volume of one of the four ventricles and loss of visual acuity, but it was not enough to be certain the inflated ventricle was causing the changes in vision.
Despite this, Van Ombergen said that the fact that there are changes in the brain should motivate additional study.
All the cosmonauts in this study were in space for about six months, so they don’t know if the effect gets more pronounced the longer they spend in microgravity.
This research could be an important consideration for longer flights, such as a journey to Mars.
They were also all men, and Van Ombergen says there’s a chance the effect could be different in women.
She said: ‘We need to really check the brain, check the visual system, check cognition because we do not know if this has any effect on that, and check people who spent different durations in space to tell if the effect keeps increasing.
‘Currently, nobody knows.’
The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
