Study led by a team from University of Antwerp and LMU of Munich found that spending long hours in the space, have effects on the brain as well and not just muscle atrophy and reductions in bone density. The effects might be reversed later but is still evident.
The study showed that differential changes in the primary tissue volumes of the brain could be seen for at least seven months.
Peter zu Eulenburg, a professor from LMU, said that "Our results point to prolonged changes in the pattern of cerebrospinal fluid circulation over a period of at least seven months following the return to Earth."
There is not much information about how different tissue of the brain reacts upon being exposed to microgravity, said researcher from LMU.
Ten cosmonauts who spent at least average of 189 days on board the space station, were subjects to this study. Magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) was used to image the brains of the subjects. This was done before and after the missions, to measure the changes. Scans revealed that the volume of grey matter in the brain was reduced compared to the measurement before launch.
After seven months when the scanning was done again, it was revealed that the effects were reversed vastly but still detectable.
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