{"id":232317,"date":"2026-01-14T07:25:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T07:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/232317\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T07:25:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T07:25:16","slug":"new-study-finds-astronauts-brains-change-after-space-travel-roch-valley-radio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/232317\/","title":{"rendered":"New study finds astronauts&#8217; brains change after space travel &#8211; Roch Valley Radio"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aiir-c-news-figure__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768375515_164_skynews-astronaut-nasa_7134146.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"aiir-c-news-article__abstract\">\n            New research into the health effects of spaceflight has shown astronauts&#8217; brains change position and shape over time.\n        <\/p>\n<p class=\"first\">Following spaceflight, the brain shifts &#8220;upward and backward within the skull&#8221;, with sensory and motor regions showing the largest shifts, the study found.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There are also regional, nonlinear lateral deformations that differ between the superior and inferior portions of the brain,&#8221; the research, published on Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reported.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers looked at MRI scans from 26 astronauts prior and after their time in space.<\/p>\n<p>It then compared the results with the scans of 24 civilian participants on Earth who were placed in a &#8220;long-duration head-down tilt bed rest&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists found similar changes to the brains&#8217; shape and positions in the civilian participants, but the astronauts&#8217; brains exhibited greater upward shift.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The health and human performance implications of these spaceflight-associated brain displacements and deformations require further study to pave the way for safer human space exploration,&#8221; the study said, adding: &#8220;Although most of the brain deformation recovered over six months post-flight, some persisted.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Rachael Seidler, a professor in the department of applied physiology and kinesiology at the University of Florida and a co-author of the study, told Sky News&#8217; US partner network NBC: &#8220;We need to understand these changes and their impacts to keep astronauts safe and healthy and protect their longevity.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Read more from Sky News: <br \/>NASA mega-rocket for moon mission could launch in weeks<br \/>The 40 jobs &#8216;most at risk&#8217; from AI &#8211; and 40 it can&#8217;t touch<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of how the amount of time spent in space also appeared to have an impact on the brain, Professor Seidler said: &#8220;The people who went for a year showed the largest changes.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There were still some changes evident in people who went for two weeks, but duration seems to be the driving factor.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/skynews_2018-small.png\" alt=\"Sky News\" style=\"width:85px;height:20px;vertical-align:middle;\"\/>\n                <\/p>\n<p>\n                (c) Sky News 2026: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/new-study-finds-astronauts-brains-change-after-space-travel-13493682\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New study finds astronauts&#8217; brains change after space travel<\/a>\n            <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New research into the health effects of spaceflight has shown astronauts&#8217; brains change position and shape over time.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[17772,137899,137903,137904,137907,1259,137896,137910,137895,137909,137897,440,256,45557,137906,137911,111,43,139,69,137898,137908,137905,83395,137900,137902,137901,147,392],"class_list":["post-232317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-bury","tag-bury-dab","tag-bury-news","tag-bury-radio","tag-bury-radio-station","tag-community","tag-community-radio","tag-community-radio-bury","tag-greater-manchester","tag-greater-manchester-radio","tag-hospital-radio","tag-local","tag-local-news","tag-local-radio","tag-local-radio-bury","tag-local-radio-greater-manchester","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-radio-bury","tag-radio-coverage-bury","tag-radio-in-bury","tag-rochdale","tag-rochdale-dab","tag-rochdale-news","tag-rochdale-times","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}