Being in space makes it harder for astronauts to think quickly

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) had slower memory, attention and processing speed after six months, raising concerns about the impact of cognitive impairment on future space missions to Mars. The extreme environment of space, with reduced gravity, harsh radiation and the lack of regular sunrises and sunsets, can have dramatic effects on astronaut health, from muscle loss to an increased risk of heart disease. However, the cognitive effects of long-term space travel are less well documented. Inside NASA's ambitious plan to bring the ISS crashing back to Earth Now, Sheena Dev at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and her colleagues have looked at the cognitive performance of 25 astronauts during their time on the ISS. The team ran the astronauts through 10 tests, some of which were done on Earth, once before and twice after the mission, while others were done on the ISS, both early and later in the mission.