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Space Radiation: Central Nervous System Risks

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Handbook of Bioastronautics

Abstract

Possible acute and late risks to the central nervous system from galactic cosmic rays and solar particle events are concerns for human exploration of space. CNS risks may include altered cognitive function, impaired balance and motor function, affective behavioral changes, or accelerated late neurodegeneration, all of which may affect performance and human health. Experimental studies using accelerated charged particle beams simulating space radiation at doses below 1 Gy provide evidence for changes in rodent CNS which are persistent for up to a year. Changes in spatial and recognition memory, executive function, measures of anxiety, and motor coordination in rats and mice are observed. These are accompanied by depressed neurogenesis, altered dendritic arbors and spine numbers, elevated oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation, including microglia activation. Altered excitability, synaptic plasticity, and intrinsic membrane properties are observed in excitatory and inhibitory neurons in cortex accompanied by different levels of glutamate and GABA ion channels and neurotrophins such as BDNF. Together these changes in animals attest to the potential for impairments in human brain activity for which little or no charged particle data are available.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Radiation Medicine and Basic Sciences, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, USA

    Gregory A. Nelson

Authors
  1. Gregory A. Nelson
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Correspondence to Gregory A. Nelson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Apollo Program, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Laurence R. Young

  2. Center for Space Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Jeffrey P. Sutton

Section Editor information

  1. Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Kathryn D. Held

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Nelson, G.A. (2021). Space Radiation: Central Nervous System Risks. In: Young, L.R., Sutton, J.P. (eds) Handbook of Bioastronautics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12191-8_84

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