image: Percentage volume change for each ventricular CSF compartment, as well as total ventricular volume change given for comparisons postflight vs. preflight (dark colored bar) and follow-up vs. preflight (light colored bar). The percentage volume difference between the two time points for the controls is also given (diagonal stripes). A positive value indicates an increase in ventricular volume at postflight compared with preflight or at follow-up compared with preflight and vice versa for a negative value. view more
Credit: Image courtesy of Angelique Van Ombergen.
Researchers report patterns of brain ventricle size alteration following spaceflight. One of the physiological consequences of long-term spaceflight is a head-ward shift of body fluids. Such fluid shifts may be tied to clinical syndromes of visual acuity changes associated with long-term spaceflight. However, the persistence of cerebrospinal fluid volume changes following spaceflight has not been previously quantified. Angelique Van Ombergen and colleagues conducted MRI scans on 11 cosmonauts before and after their assignments on the International Space Station, with an average mission duration of 169 days in space. The authors also conducted follow-up scans 7 months after spaceflight. The volume of the cosmonauts' brain ventricles increased by an average of around 12% after spaceflight--a potential mechanism to cope with the increased fluid volume. In the follow-up scans, the cosmonauts' ventricle sizes had decreased but did not return to baseline levels, with overall ventricle volume around 6% larger than pre-flight volume. The patterns of ventricle size variation suggest decreased cerebrospinal fluid reabsorption during microgravity exposure, possibly partly due to the compression of cranial venous structures associated with reabsorption. According to the authors, although the ventricle size effects and cosmonauts' altered visual acuity both persisted several months after their return to Earth, further studies are needed to establish links between the two phenomena.
Article #18-20354: "Brain ventricular volume changes induced by long-duration spaceflight," by Angelique Van Ombergen et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Angelique Van Ombergen, University of Antwerp, BELGIUM; tel: +32473237820; e-mail: angelique.vanombergen@uantwerpen.be; Floris Wuyts, University of Antwerp, BELGIUM; tel: +32486637550; e mail: floris.wuyts@uantwerpen.be
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