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Project Title:  Temporal Nature of Cognitive and Visuospatial Brain Domain Changes During Long-Duration Low-Earth Orbit Missions Reduce
Images: icon  Fiscal Year: FY 2025 
Division: Human Research 
Research Discipline/Element:
HRP HFBP:Human Factors & Behavioral Performance (IRP Rev H)
 Start Date: 06/01/2019  
End Date: 09/30/2033  
Task Last Updated: 03/21/2025 		 Download Task Book report in PDF pdf
Principal Investigator/Affiliation:   Basner, Mathias  M.D., Ph.D. / University of Pennsylvania 
Address:  Department of Psychiatry, Division of Sleep and Chronobiology 
423 Service Dr, 1013 Blockley Hall 
Philadelphia , PA 19104-4209 		 Email: basner@pennmedicine.upenn.edu 
Phone: 215-573-5866  
Congressional District: 2 
Web:  
 Organization Type: UNIVERSITY 
Organization Name: University of Pennsylvania 
Joint Agency:  
Comments:  
Co-Investigator(s)
Affiliation: 
Gur, Ruben  Ph.D. The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania 
Moore, Tyler  Ph.D. Trustees of Tufts College 
Roalf, David  Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 
Stahn, Alexander  Ph.D. Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Germany (University of Pennsylvania) 
Bell, Suzanne  NASA 
Ivkovic, Vladimir  Mass General Brigham 
Dev, Sheena  NASA BHP Lab 
Jones, Christopher W. Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 
Key Personnel Changes / Previous PI: David F. Dinges retired and was removed from the project. Christopher W. Jones was added as a Co-Investigator (Co-I) to the project. The list of Co-Investigators now reflects the current team (Ed., 3/28/25).
Project Information: Grant/Contract No. 80NSSC19K1046 
Responsible Center: NASA JSC 
Grant Monitor: Whitmire, Alexandra  
Center Contact:  
alexandra.m.whitmire@nasa.gov 
Unique ID: 12443  		Solicitation / Funding Source: 2017-2018 HERO 80JSC017N0001-BPBA Topics in Biological, Physiological, and Behavioral Adaptations to Spaceflight. Appendix C 
Grant/Contract No.: 80NSSC19K1046 
Project Type: Flight 
Flight Program:  
TechPort: No  		No. of Post Docs: 0 
No. of PhD Candidates: 0 
No. of Master's Candidates: 0 
No. of Bachelor's Candidates: 0  		No. of PhD Degrees: 0 
No. of Master's Degrees: 0 
No. of Bachelor's Degrees: 0 
Human Research Program Elements: (1) HFBP:Human Factors & Behavioral Performance (IRP Rev H)
Human Research Program Risks: (1) BMed:Risk of Adverse Cognitive or Behavioral Conditions and Psychiatric Disorders
(2) Sensorimotor:Risk of Altered Sensorimotor/Vestibular Function Impacting Critical Mission Tasks
Human Research Program Gaps: (1) BMed-101:Identify, quantify, and validate key selection factors for requisite performance on increasingly Earth-independent, long-duration, autonomous, and/or long-distance exploration missions
(2) BMed-102:Identify and characterize key C/P/Psy/N outcome measures (biomarkers) and domains of relevance that are at risk due to spaceflight environmental stressors in exploration class missions and determine validated thresholds for identified biomarkers of adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes to enable mission objectives and identify indicators of risk before progression to clinical levels of impairment.
(3) BMed-103:Identify validated, evidence-based countermeasures to prevent or treat adverse C/P/Psy/N conditions caused by single or combined exposures to spaceflight environmental stressors.
(4) BMed-104:Identify design features and requirements of the habitat/vehicle and mission architecture to mitigate stressors impacting C/P/Psy/N health.
(5) BMed-105:Identify validated medical or dietary countermeasures to mitigate spaceflight environmental stressors impacting C/P/Psy/N health.
(6) BMed-107:Determine long-term changes and risks to astronaut health post-mission that retrospectively predicts individual susceptibility to adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes and informs countermeasure implementation in current and future crews.
(7) BMed-108:Identify and characterize the potential impacts of combined spaceflight environmental stressors to inform both validated threshold limits and countermeasure for adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes.
(8) SM-104:Evaluate how weightlessness-induced changes in sensorimotor/vestibular function relate to and/or interact with changes in other brain functions (sleep, cognition, attention).
Flight Assignment/Project Notes: NOTE: End date changed to 09/30/2033 per S. Mack-Phillips/JSC (Ed., 8/17/23)

NOTE: End date changed to 12/31/2027 per NSSC information (Ed., 1/27/21)

Task Description: As part of the CIPHER project (Complement of Integrated Protocols for Human Exploration Research), we are investigating visuospatial brain domain changes and spatial cognition in the up to 30 CIPHER crewmembers assigned to 6-, and 12-month ISS missions as well as in an equal number of age-, sex- and education-matched ground controls. The experiment is part of an international project consisting of three experiments (lead by Drs. Basner, Stahn, and Ivkovic, respectively) with synergistic aims that are being carried out in a joint effort by NASA and DLR/ESA. Dr. Stahn’s project specifically targets spatial cognition, how it relates to structural and functional brain changes and their molecular signatures. Given the impact of visuospatial brain domain changes on neurobehavioral functioning, operations and safety during LDM (i.e., docking, landing, navigating on the planetary surface), spatial cognition and its neural basis are a key concern for extended mission durations. Dr. Ivkovic’s team will assess sleep, stress and immune responses, and operational performance leveraging the Canada arm simulator— Robotic on Board Trainer for Research (ROBoT-r). These projects are presented separately in other abstracts. This project (PI Dr. Basner) focuses on neurostructural and cognitive changes. Astronauts will each perform NASA’s Cognition test battery before, during, and after their 6-, or 12-month ISS missions. Based on protracted performance decrements observed in Scott Kelly after his one-year mission, the last test bout will be performed 1 year after return to Earth. The data will be used to generate temporal profiles of human cognitive performance that will inform future long-duration deep space missions. They will also be combined with existing Cognition data collected by the PI and his team on the ISS and in several space analog environments on Earth as the basis for a normative database for long-duration space missions. All astronauts will undergo structural and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) before and immediately after the mission (R+5, R+30). They will perform a version of the Cognition test battery that was specifically designed for the MRI (i.e., fCog) in the scanner. We will correlate structural and functional changes observed during fMRI scans post-flight relative to pre-flight with in-flight changes in Cognition performance to establish the biological basis for any observed cognitive performance changes. We will also integrate the general cognitive performance data from Cognition with spatial navigation, learning, and memory data as well as with biomarkers collected in Project B (Spatial Cognition and Hippocampal Plasticity During Long-Duration Low-Earth Orbit Missions: HypoCampus in i1YMP) before, during, and after flight. The current plan is to investigate 15 astronauts on 6- or 12-month ISS missions as well as 15 age and sex matched controls, who will perform tests/scans at the same intervals as the matched astronaut but with a 2-month delay.

Research Impact/Earth Benefits: The three projects will deliver a highly unique and comprehensive set of integrated neuroimaging and neurocognitive tools for the evaluation and ultimately prevention of adverse effects on brain structure and function that lead to behavioral effects associated with exploration-type missions. As the Cognition test battery was developed for high-performing subject populations, this work will also translate to high performing populations on Earth (e.g., physicians, submariners).

Task Progress & Bibliography Information FY2025 
Task Progress: At the time of this writing, six astronauts and five control subjects have been enrolled in the study. One astronaut has finished data acquisition, two astronauts are in post-flight data acquisition, there is currently no astronaut in-flight, and three astronauts are in pre-flight data acquisition.

Bibliography: Description: (Last Updated: 06/19/2025) 

Show Cumulative Bibliography
 
Articles in Peer-reviewed Journals Moore TM, Basner M. "An alternative to the Bland-Altman repeated-measures correlation to account for variability of slopes across persons." Mathematics. 2025 Feb 4;13(3):512. https://doi.org/10.3390/math13030512 , Feb-2025
Back to Search Results    
Project Title:  Temporal Nature of Cognitive and Visuospatial Brain Domain Changes During Long-Duration Low-Earth Orbit Missions Reduce
Images: icon  Fiscal Year: FY 2024 
Division: Human Research 
Research Discipline/Element:
HRP HFBP:Human Factors & Behavioral Performance (IRP Rev H)
 Start Date: 06/01/2019  
End Date: 09/30/2033  
Task Last Updated: 03/14/2024 		 Download Task Book report in PDF pdf
Principal Investigator/Affiliation:   Basner, Mathias  M.D., Ph.D. / University of Pennsylvania 
Address:  Department of Psychiatry, Division of Sleep and Chronobiology 
423 Service Dr, 1013 Blockley Hall 
Philadelphia , PA 19104-4209 		 Email: basner@pennmedicine.upenn.edu 
Phone: 215-573-5866  
Congressional District: 2 
Web:  
 Organization Type: UNIVERSITY 
Organization Name: University of Pennsylvania 
Joint Agency:  
Comments:  
Co-Investigator(s)
Affiliation: 
Dinges, David  Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 
Gunga, Hanns-Christian  M.D. Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Germany 
Gur, Ruben  Ph.D. The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania 
Hartley, Tom  Ph.D. University of York, United Kingdom 
Kuehn, Simone  Ph.D. Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany 
Moore, Tyler  Ph.D. Trustees of Tufts College 
Riecke, Bernhard  Ph.D. Simon Fraser University, Canada 
Roalf, David  Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 
Wolbers, Thomas  Ph.D. German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Germany 
Stahn, Alexander  Ph.D. Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Germany (University of Pennsylvania) 
Bell, Suzanne  NASA 
Ivkovic, Vladimir  Mass General Brigham 
Dev, Sheena  NASA BHP Lab 
Key Personnel Changes / Previous PI: CoI Sara Whiting was removed from the project. CoIs Vladimir Ivkovic and Sheena Dev were added.
Project Information: Grant/Contract No. 80NSSC19K1046 
Responsible Center: NASA JSC 
Grant Monitor: Whitmire, Alexandra  
Center Contact:  
alexandra.m.whitmire@nasa.gov 
Unique ID: 12443  		Solicitation / Funding Source: 2017-2018 HERO 80JSC017N0001-BPBA Topics in Biological, Physiological, and Behavioral Adaptations to Spaceflight. Appendix C 
Grant/Contract No.: 80NSSC19K1046 
Project Type: Flight 
Flight Program:  
TechPort: No  		No. of Post Docs: 0 
No. of PhD Candidates: 0 
No. of Master's Candidates: 0 
No. of Bachelor's Candidates: 0  		No. of PhD Degrees: 0 
No. of Master's Degrees: 0 
No. of Bachelor's Degrees: 0 
Human Research Program Elements: (1) HFBP:Human Factors & Behavioral Performance (IRP Rev H)
Human Research Program Risks: (1) BMed:Risk of Adverse Cognitive or Behavioral Conditions and Psychiatric Disorders
(2) Sensorimotor:Risk of Altered Sensorimotor/Vestibular Function Impacting Critical Mission Tasks
Human Research Program Gaps: (1) BMed-101:Identify, quantify, and validate key selection factors for requisite performance on increasingly Earth-independent, long-duration, autonomous, and/or long-distance exploration missions
(2) BMed-102:Identify and characterize key C/P/Psy/N outcome measures (biomarkers) and domains of relevance that are at risk due to spaceflight environmental stressors in exploration class missions and determine validated thresholds for identified biomarkers of adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes to enable mission objectives and identify indicators of risk before progression to clinical levels of impairment.
(3) BMed-103:Identify validated, evidence-based countermeasures to prevent or treat adverse C/P/Psy/N conditions caused by single or combined exposures to spaceflight environmental stressors.
(4) BMed-104:Identify design features and requirements of the habitat/vehicle and mission architecture to mitigate stressors impacting C/P/Psy/N health.
(5) BMed-105:Identify validated medical or dietary countermeasures to mitigate spaceflight environmental stressors impacting C/P/Psy/N health.
(6) BMed-107:Determine long-term changes and risks to astronaut health post-mission that retrospectively predicts individual susceptibility to adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes and informs countermeasure implementation in current and future crews.
(7) BMed-108:Identify and characterize the potential impacts of combined spaceflight environmental stressors to inform both validated threshold limits and countermeasure for adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes.
(8) SM-104:Evaluate how weightlessness-induced changes in sensorimotor/vestibular function relate to and/or interact with changes in other brain functions (sleep, cognition, attention).
Flight Assignment/Project Notes: NOTE: End date changed to 09/30/2033 per S. Mack-Phillips/JSC (Ed., 8/17/23)

NOTE: End date changed to 12/31/2027 per NSSC information (Ed., 1/27/21)

Task Description: As part of the CIPHER project (Complement of Integrated Protocols for Human Exploration Research), we are investigating visuospatial brain domain changes and spatial cognition in the up to 30 CIPHER crewmembers assigned to 6-, and 12-month ISS missions as well as in an equal number of age-, sex- and education-matched ground controls. The experiment is part of an international project consisting of three experiments (lead by Drs. Basner, Stahn, and Ivkovic, respectively) with synergistic aims that are being carried out in a joint effort by NASA and DLR/ESA. Dr. Stahn’s project specifically targets spatial cognition, how it relates to structural and functional brain changes and their molecular signatures. Given the impact of visuospatial brain domain changes on neurobehavioral functioning, operations and safety during LDM (i.e., docking, landing, navigating on the planetary surface), spatial cognition and its neural basis are a key concern for extended mission durations. Dr. Ivkovic’s team will assess sleep, stress and immune responses, and operational performance leveraging the Canada arm simulator— Robotic on Board Trainer for Research (ROBoT-r). These projects are presented separately in other abstracts. This project (PI Dr. Basner) focuses on neurostructural and cognitive changes. Astronauts will each perform NASA’s Cognition test battery before, during, and after their 6-, or 12-month ISS missions. Based on protracted performance decrements observed in Scott Kelly after his one-year mission, the last test bout will be performed 1 year after return to Earth. The data will be used to generate temporal profiles of human cognitive performance that will inform future long-duration deep space missions. They will also be combined with existing Cognition data collected by the PI and his team on the ISS and in several space analog environments on Earth as the basis for a normative database for long-duration space missions. All astronauts will undergo structural and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) before and immediately after the mission (R+5, R+30). They will perform a version of the Cognition test battery that was specifically designed for the MRI (i.e., fCog) in the scanner. We will correlate structural and functional changes observed during fMRI scans post-flight relative to pre-flight with in-flight changes in Cognition performance to establish the biological basis for any observed cognitive performance changes. We will also integrate the general cognitive performance data from Cognition with spatial navigation, learning, and memory data as well as with biomarkers collected in Project B (Spatial Cognition and Hippocampal Plasticity During Long-Duration Low-Earth Orbit Missions: HypoCampus in i1YMP) before, during, and after flight. The current plan is to investigate 13 astronauts on 6- or 12-month ISS missions as well as 13 age and sex matched controls, who will perform tests/scans at the same intervals as the matched astronaut but with a 2-month delay.

Research Impact/Earth Benefits: The three projects will deliver a highly unique and comprehensive set of integrated neuroimaging and neurocognitive tools for the evaluation and ultimately prevention of adverse effects on brain structure and function that lead to behavioral effects associated with exploration-type missions. As the Cognition test battery was developed for high-performing subject populations, this work will also translate to high performing populations on Earth (e.g., physicians, submariners).

Task Progress & Bibliography Information FY2024 
Task Progress: At the time of this writing, four astronauts and one matched control have been enrolled in the study and are at various stages of the study (i.e., pre-, in-, and post-flight).

Bibliography: Description: (Last Updated: 06/19/2025) 

Show Cumulative Bibliography
 
Articles in Peer-reviewed Journals Seidler RD, Stern C, Basner M, Stahn AC, Wuyts FL, zu Eulenburg P. "Future research directions to identify risks and mitigation strategies for neurostructural, ocular, and behavioral changes induced by human spaceflight: A NASA-ESA expert group consensus report." Front Neural Circuits. 2022 Aug 4;16:876789. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2022.876789 ; PubMed PMID: 35991346; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9387435 , Aug-2022
Back to Search Results    
Project Title:  Temporal Nature of Cognitive and Visuospatial Brain Domain Changes During Long-Duration Low-Earth Orbit Missions Reduce
Images: icon  Fiscal Year: FY 2023 
Division: Human Research 
Research Discipline/Element:
HRP HFBP:Human Factors & Behavioral Performance (IRP Rev H)
 Start Date: 06/01/2019  
End Date: 09/30/2033  
Task Last Updated: 03/30/2023 		 Download Task Book report in PDF pdf
Principal Investigator/Affiliation:   Basner, Mathias  M.D., Ph.D. / University of Pennsylvania 
Address:  Department of Psychiatry, Division of Sleep and Chronobiology 
423 Service Dr, 1013 Blockley Hall 
Philadelphia , PA 19104-4209 		 Email: basner@pennmedicine.upenn.edu 
Phone: 215-573-5866  
Congressional District: 2 
Web:  
 Organization Type: UNIVERSITY 
Organization Name: University of Pennsylvania 
Joint Agency:  
Comments:  
Co-Investigator(s)
Affiliation: 
Dinges, David  Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 
Gunga, Hanns-Christian  M.D. Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Germany 
Gur, Ruben  Ph.D. The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania 
Hartley, Tom  Ph.D. University of York, United Kingdom 
Kuehn, Simone  Ph.D. Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany 
Moore, Tyler  Ph.D. Trustees of Tufts College 
Riecke, Bernhard  Ph.D. Simon Fraser University, Canada 
Roalf, David  Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 
Wolbers, Thomas  Ph.D. German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Germany 
Stahn, Alexander  Ph.D. Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Germany (University of Pennsylvania) 
Bell, Suzanne  NASA 
Whiting, Sara  NASA 
Project Information: Grant/Contract No. 80NSSC19K1046 
Responsible Center: NASA JSC 
Grant Monitor: Whitmire, Alexandra  
Center Contact:  
alexandra.m.whitmire@nasa.gov 
Unique ID: 12443  		Solicitation / Funding Source: 2017-2018 HERO 80JSC017N0001-BPBA Topics in Biological, Physiological, and Behavioral Adaptations to Spaceflight. Appendix C 
Grant/Contract No.: 80NSSC19K1046 
Project Type: Flight 
Flight Program:  
TechPort: No  		No. of Post Docs: 0 
No. of PhD Candidates: 0 
No. of Master's Candidates: 0 
No. of Bachelor's Candidates: 0  		No. of PhD Degrees: 0 
No. of Master's Degrees: 0 
No. of Bachelor's Degrees: 0 
Human Research Program Elements: (1) HFBP:Human Factors & Behavioral Performance (IRP Rev H)
Human Research Program Risks: (1) BMed:Risk of Adverse Cognitive or Behavioral Conditions and Psychiatric Disorders
(2) Sensorimotor:Risk of Altered Sensorimotor/Vestibular Function Impacting Critical Mission Tasks
Human Research Program Gaps: (1) BMed-101:Identify, quantify, and validate key selection factors for requisite performance on increasingly Earth-independent, long-duration, autonomous, and/or long-distance exploration missions
(2) BMed-102:Identify and characterize key C/P/Psy/N outcome measures (biomarkers) and domains of relevance that are at risk due to spaceflight environmental stressors in exploration class missions and determine validated thresholds for identified biomarkers of adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes to enable mission objectives and identify indicators of risk before progression to clinical levels of impairment.
(3) BMed-103:Identify validated, evidence-based countermeasures to prevent or treat adverse C/P/Psy/N conditions caused by single or combined exposures to spaceflight environmental stressors.
(4) BMed-104:Identify design features and requirements of the habitat/vehicle and mission architecture to mitigate stressors impacting C/P/Psy/N health.
(5) BMed-105:Identify validated medical or dietary countermeasures to mitigate spaceflight environmental stressors impacting C/P/Psy/N health.
(6) BMed-107:Determine long-term changes and risks to astronaut health post-mission that retrospectively predicts individual susceptibility to adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes and informs countermeasure implementation in current and future crews.
(7) BMed-108:Identify and characterize the potential impacts of combined spaceflight environmental stressors to inform both validated threshold limits and countermeasure for adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes.
(8) SM-104:Evaluate how weightlessness-induced changes in sensorimotor/vestibular function relate to and/or interact with changes in other brain functions (sleep, cognition, attention).
Flight Assignment/Project Notes: NOTE: End date changed to 09/30/2033 per S. Mack-Phillips/JSC (Ed., 8/17/23)

NOTE: End date changed to 12/31/2027 per NSSC information (Ed., 1/27/21)

Task Description: This is an international proposal consisting of 2 projects with synergistic aims that will be carried out in a joint effort by Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR: German Aerospace Center)/European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. It addresses the Human Research Program (HRP) Risk of Adverse Cognitive or Behavioral Conditions and Psychiatric Disorders, Human Research Program's requirement to demonstrate the presence or absence of unacceptable deleterious neurocognitive effects beyond the experience base of six-month expeditions, and to permit extrapolation to early interplanetary expeditions. It also addresses several other critical Human Research Program risks and gaps (e.g., BMed1, BMed2, BMed3, BMed5, CNS-1, SM26). More specifically, we will target NASA's particular interest in studying the 'Cognitive-perceptual-visuospatial brain domain changes due to isolation and confinement' as part of the integrated One-Year Mission Project (i1YMP) on the International Space Station (ISS). The data we propose to collect will - for the first time - reliably demonstrate whether prolonging mission duration to one year will have detrimental effects on general cognitive performance (measured with the Cognition test battery), spatial cognition, structural and functional brain changes in general, and hippocampal plasticity more specifically relative to the shorter 6-month and 2-month missions. Using state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques (that include functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing the Cognition test battery in the scanner)), we will determine the biological basis for any changes in cognitive performance, with a focus on hippocampal plasticity. Similar data already gathered on the ISS and in several short- and long-duration space analog environments will be used to generate a normative data base for long-duration missions. Finally, we will derive dose-response relationships between cognitive-visuospatial brain domain changes and mission duration that will allow predicting vulnerability to adverse cognitive or behavioral impairment and psychiatric disorders on interplanetary expeditions such as a mission to Mars. The two 7-yr projects will deliver a highly unique and comprehensive set of integrated neuroimaging and neurocognitive tools for the evaluation and ultimately prevention of adverse effects on brain structure and function that lead to behavioral effects associated with exploration-type missions.

Research Impact/Earth Benefits: The two 7-yr projects will deliver a highly unique and comprehensive set of integrated neuroimaging and neurocognitive tools for the evaluation and ultimately prevention of adverse effects on brain structure and function that lead to behavioral effects associated with exploration-type missions. As the Cognition test battery was developed for high-performing subject populations, this work will also translate to high performing populations on Earth (e.g., physicians, submariners).

Task Progress & Bibliography Information FY2023 
Task Progress: The integrated Project A&B magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol was set up at the scanner facility. Several Cognition test batteries were acquired in the first two CIPHER astronauts who consented. [Ed. Note: CIPHER is the short title for a set of 14 studies sponsored by NASA and international partner agencies ( https://www.nasa.gov/feature/experiments-to-unlock-how-human-bodies-react-to-long-space-journeys ). CIPHER stands for "Complement of Integrated Protocols for Human Exploration Research".] We had informed consent briefings for three additional astronauts. We are waiting for the first L-60 MRI to be performed.

Bibliography: Description: (Last Updated: 06/19/2025) 

Show Cumulative Bibliography
 
 None in FY 2023
Back to Search Results    
Project Title:  Temporal Nature of Cognitive and Visuospatial Brain Domain Changes During Long-Duration Low-Earth Orbit Missions Reduce
Images: icon  Fiscal Year: FY 2022 
Division: Human Research 
Research Discipline/Element:
HRP HFBP:Human Factors & Behavioral Performance (IRP Rev H)
 Start Date: 06/01/2019  
End Date: 12/31/2027  
Task Last Updated: 03/03/2022 		 Download Task Book report in PDF pdf
Principal Investigator/Affiliation:   Basner, Mathias  M.D., Ph.D. / University of Pennsylvania 
Address:  Department of Psychiatry, Division of Sleep and Chronobiology 
423 Service Dr, 1013 Blockley Hall 
Philadelphia , PA 19104-4209 		 Email: basner@pennmedicine.upenn.edu 
Phone: 215-573-5866  
Congressional District: 2 
Web:  
 Organization Type: UNIVERSITY 
Organization Name: University of Pennsylvania 
Joint Agency:  
Comments:  
Co-Investigator(s)
Affiliation: 
Dinges, David  Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 
Gunga, Hanns-Christian  M.D. Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Germany 
Gur, Ruben  Ph.D. The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania 
Hartley, Tom  Ph.D. University of York, United Kingdom 
Kuehn, Simone  Ph.D. Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany 
Moore, Tyler  Ph.D. Trustees of Tufts College 
Riecke, Bernhard  Ph.D. Simon Fraser University, Canada 
Roalf, David  Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 
Wolbers, Thomas  Ph.D. German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Germany 
Stahn, Alexander  Ph.D. Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Germany (University of Pennsylvania) 
Bell, Suzanne  NASA 
Whiting, Sara  NASA 
Project Information: Grant/Contract No. 80NSSC19K1046 
Responsible Center: NASA JSC 
Grant Monitor: Whitmire, Alexandra  
Center Contact:  
alexandra.m.whitmire@nasa.gov 
Unique ID: 12443  		Solicitation / Funding Source: 2017-2018 HERO 80JSC017N0001-BPBA Topics in Biological, Physiological, and Behavioral Adaptations to Spaceflight. Appendix C 
Grant/Contract No.: 80NSSC19K1046 
Project Type: Flight 
Flight Program:  
TechPort: No  		No. of Post Docs: 0 
No. of PhD Candidates: 0 
No. of Master's Candidates: 0 
No. of Bachelor's Candidates: 0  		No. of PhD Degrees: 0 
No. of Master's Degrees: 0 
No. of Bachelor's Degrees: 0 
Human Research Program Elements: (1) HFBP:Human Factors & Behavioral Performance (IRP Rev H)
Human Research Program Risks: (1) BMed:Risk of Adverse Cognitive or Behavioral Conditions and Psychiatric Disorders
(2) Sensorimotor:Risk of Altered Sensorimotor/Vestibular Function Impacting Critical Mission Tasks
Human Research Program Gaps: (1) BMed-101:Identify, quantify, and validate key selection factors for requisite performance on increasingly Earth-independent, long-duration, autonomous, and/or long-distance exploration missions
(2) BMed-102:Identify and characterize key C/P/Psy/N outcome measures (biomarkers) and domains of relevance that are at risk due to spaceflight environmental stressors in exploration class missions and determine validated thresholds for identified biomarkers of adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes to enable mission objectives and identify indicators of risk before progression to clinical levels of impairment.
(3) BMed-103:Identify validated, evidence-based countermeasures to prevent or treat adverse C/P/Psy/N conditions caused by single or combined exposures to spaceflight environmental stressors.
(4) BMed-104:Identify design features and requirements of the habitat/vehicle and mission architecture to mitigate stressors impacting C/P/Psy/N health.
(5) BMed-105:Identify validated medical or dietary countermeasures to mitigate spaceflight environmental stressors impacting C/P/Psy/N health.
(6) BMed-107:Determine long-term changes and risks to astronaut health post-mission that retrospectively predicts individual susceptibility to adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes and informs countermeasure implementation in current and future crews.
(7) BMed-108:Identify and characterize the potential impacts of combined spaceflight environmental stressors to inform both validated threshold limits and countermeasure for adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes.
(8) SM-104:Evaluate how weightlessness-induced changes in sensorimotor/vestibular function relate to and/or interact with changes in other brain functions (sleep, cognition, attention).
Flight Assignment/Project Notes: NOTE: End date changed to 12/31/2027 per NSSC information (Ed., 1/27/21)

Task Description: This is an international proposal consisting of 2 projects with synergistic aims that will be carried out in a joint effort by Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR: German Aerospace Center)/European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. It addresses the Human Research Program (HRP) Risk of Adverse Cognitive or Behavioral Conditions and Psychiatric Disorders, Human Research Program's requirement to demonstrate the presence or absence of unacceptable deleterious neurocognitive effects beyond the experience base of six-month expeditions, and to permit extrapolation to early interplanetary expeditions. It also addresses several other critical Human Research Program risks and gaps (e.g., BMed1, BMed2, BMed3, BMed5, CNS-1, SM26). More specifically, we will target NASA's particular interest in studying the 'Cognitive-perceptual-visuospatial brain domain changes due to isolation and confinement' as part of the integrated One-Year Mission Project (i1YMP) on the International Space Station (ISS). The data we propose to collect will - for the first time - reliably demonstrate whether prolonging mission duration to one year will have detrimental effects on general cognitive performance (measured with the Cognition test battery), spatial cognition, structural and functional brain changes in general, and hippocampal plasticity more specifically relative to the shorter 6-month and 2-month missions. Using state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques (that include functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing the Cognition test battery in the scanner)), we will determine the biological basis for any changes in cognitive performance, with a focus on hippocampal plasticity. Similar data already gathered on the ISS and in several short- and long-duration space analog environments will be used to generate a normative data base for long-duration missions. Finally, we will derive dose-response relationships between cognitive-visuospatial brain domain changes and mission duration that will allow predicting vulnerability to adverse cognitive or behavioral impairment and psychiatric disorders on interplanetary expeditions such as a mission to Mars. The two 7-yr projects will deliver a highly unique and comprehensive set of integrated neuroimaging and neurocognitive tools for the evaluation and ultimately prevention of adverse effects on brain structure and function that lead to behavioral effects associated with exploration-type missions.

Research Impact/Earth Benefits: The two 7-yr projects will deliver a highly unique and comprehensive set of integrated neuroimaging and neurocognitive tools for the evaluation and ultimately prevention of adverse effects on brain structure and function that lead to behavioral effects associated with exploration-type missions. As the Cognition test battery was developed for high-performing subject populations, this work will also translate to high performing populations on Earth (e.g., physicians, submariners).

Task Progress & Bibliography Information FY2022 
Task Progress: The integrated Project A&B magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol was finalized, which is ready for deployment at the Victory Lakes facility of the University of Texas Medical Branch. Video materials for NASA's Research Operations and Integration (ROI) for an integrated informed consent briefing were prepared. We are waiting for the first astronaut to consent. We are ready to set up the scanner at Victory Lakes once we have our first confirmed study participant. The goal is to set up the scanner as close to the first scan as possible as software and hardware changes are always possible and might require setting up the scanner again.

Bibliography: Description: (Last Updated: 06/19/2025) 

Show Cumulative Bibliography
 
 None in FY 2022
Back to Search Results    
Project Title:  Temporal Nature of Cognitive and Visuospatial Brain Domain Changes During Long-Duration Low-Earth Orbit Missions Reduce
Images: icon  Fiscal Year: FY 2021 
Division: Human Research 
Research Discipline/Element:
HRP HFBP:Human Factors & Behavioral Performance (IRP Rev H)
 Start Date: 06/01/2019  
End Date: 12/31/2027  
Task Last Updated: 03/03/2021 		 Download Task Book report in PDF pdf
Principal Investigator/Affiliation:   Basner, Mathias  M.D., Ph.D. / University of Pennsylvania 
Address:  Department of Psychiatry, Division of Sleep and Chronobiology 
423 Service Dr, 1013 Blockley Hall 
Philadelphia , PA 19104-4209 		 Email: basner@pennmedicine.upenn.edu 
Phone: 215-573-5866  
Congressional District: 2 
Web:  
 Organization Type: UNIVERSITY 
Organization Name: University of Pennsylvania 
Joint Agency:  
Comments:  
Co-Investigator(s)
Affiliation: 
Dinges, David  Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 
Gunga, Hanns-Christian  M.D. Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Germany 
Gur, Ruben  Ph.D. The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania 
Hartley, Tom  Ph.D. University of York, United Kingdom 
Kuehn, Simone  Ph.D. Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany 
Moore, Tyler  Ph.D. Trustees of Tufts College 
Riecke, Bernhard  Ph.D. Simon Fraser University, Canada 
Roalf, David  Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 
Roma, Peter  Ph.D. NASA Johnson Space Center 
Schneiderman, Jason  Ph.D. KBR/NASA Johnson Space Center 
Wolbers, Thomas  Ph.D. German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Germany 
Stahn, Alexander  Ph.D. Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Germany (University of Pennsylvania) 
Project Information: Grant/Contract No. 80NSSC19K1046 
Responsible Center: NASA JSC 
Grant Monitor: Whitmire, Alexandra  
Center Contact:  
alexandra.m.whitmire@nasa.gov 
Unique ID: 12443  		Solicitation / Funding Source: 2017-2018 HERO 80JSC017N0001-BPBA Topics in Biological, Physiological, and Behavioral Adaptations to Spaceflight. Appendix C 
Grant/Contract No.: 80NSSC19K1046 
Project Type: Flight 
Flight Program:  
TechPort: No  		No. of Post Docs: 0 
No. of PhD Candidates: 0 
No. of Master's Candidates: 0 
No. of Bachelor's Candidates: 0  		No. of PhD Degrees: 0 
No. of Master's Degrees: 0 
No. of Bachelor's Degrees: 0 
Human Research Program Elements: (1) HFBP:Human Factors & Behavioral Performance (IRP Rev H)
Human Research Program Risks: (1) BMed:Risk of Adverse Cognitive or Behavioral Conditions and Psychiatric Disorders
(2) Sensorimotor:Risk of Altered Sensorimotor/Vestibular Function Impacting Critical Mission Tasks
Human Research Program Gaps: (1) BMed-101:Identify, quantify, and validate key selection factors for requisite performance on increasingly Earth-independent, long-duration, autonomous, and/or long-distance exploration missions
(2) BMed-102:Identify and characterize key C/P/Psy/N outcome measures (biomarkers) and domains of relevance that are at risk due to spaceflight environmental stressors in exploration class missions and determine validated thresholds for identified biomarkers of adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes to enable mission objectives and identify indicators of risk before progression to clinical levels of impairment.
(3) BMed-103:Identify validated, evidence-based countermeasures to prevent or treat adverse C/P/Psy/N conditions caused by single or combined exposures to spaceflight environmental stressors.
(4) BMed-104:Identify design features and requirements of the habitat/vehicle and mission architecture to mitigate stressors impacting C/P/Psy/N health.
(5) BMed-105:Identify validated medical or dietary countermeasures to mitigate spaceflight environmental stressors impacting C/P/Psy/N health.
(6) BMed-107:Determine long-term changes and risks to astronaut health post-mission that retrospectively predicts individual susceptibility to adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes and informs countermeasure implementation in current and future crews.
(7) BMed-108:Identify and characterize the potential impacts of combined spaceflight environmental stressors to inform both validated threshold limits and countermeasure for adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes.
(8) SM-104:Evaluate how weightlessness-induced changes in sensorimotor/vestibular function relate to and/or interact with changes in other brain functions (sleep, cognition, attention).
Flight Assignment/Project Notes: NOTE: End date changed to 12/31/2027 per NSSC information (Ed., 1/27/21)

Task Description: This is an international proposal consisting of 2 projects with synergistic aims that will be carried out in a joint effort by Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR: German Aerospace Center)/European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. It addresses the Human Research Program (HRP) Risk of Adverse Cognitive or Behavioral Conditions and Psychiatric Disorders, Human Research Program's requirement to demonstrate the presence or absence of unacceptable deleterious neurocognitive effects beyond the experience base of six-month expeditions, and to permit extrapolation to early interplanetary expeditions. It also addresses several other critical Human Research Program risks and gaps (e.g., BMed1, BMed2, BMed3, BMed5, CNS-1, SM26). More specifically, we will target NASA's particular interest in studying the 'Cognitive-perceptual-visuospatial brain domain changes due to isolation and confinement' as part of the integrated One-Year Mission Project (i1YMP) on the International Space Station (ISS). The data we propose to collect will - for the first time - reliably demonstrate whether prolonging mission duration to one year will have detrimental effects on general cognitive performance (measured with the Cognition test battery), spatial cognition, structural and functional brain changes in general, and hippocampal plasticity more specifically relative to the shorter 6-month and 2-month missions. Using state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques (that include functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing the Cognition test battery in the scanner)), we will determine the biological basis for any changes in cognitive performance, with a focus on hippocampal plasticity. Similar data already gathered on the ISS and in several short- and long-duration space analog environments will be used to generate a normative data base for long-duration missions. Finally, we will derive dose-response relationships between cognitive-visuospatial brain domain changes and mission duration that will allow predicting vulnerability to adverse cognitive or behavioral impairment and psychiatric disorders on interplanetary expeditions such as a mission to Mars. The two 7-yr projects will deliver a highly unique and comprehensive set of integrated neuroimaging and neurocognitive tools for the evaluation and ultimately prevention of adverse effects on brain structure and function that lead to behavioral effects associated with exploration-type missions.

Research Impact/Earth Benefits: The two 7-yr projects will deliver a highly unique and comprehensive set of integrated neuroimaging and neurocognitive tools for the evaluation and ultimately prevention of adverse effects on brain structure and function that lead to behavioral effects associated with exploration-type missions. As the Cognition test battery was developed for high-performing subject populations, this work will also translate to high performing populations on Earth (e.g., physicians, submariners).

Task Progress & Bibliography Information FY2021 
Task Progress: The project exited the definition phase on 12/31/2020. The following definition phase objectives were met: Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was obtained on December 2, 2019. We established a reliance agreement between the IRB of the University of Pennsylvania and Johnson Space Center (JSC) IRB. Also, we made amendments to the IRB to reflect changes in the study protocol in relation to the integration process coordinated by Research Operations & Integration (ROI) element. We acquired and tested hardware for administering our imaging protocol at the Victory Lakes facility of University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). We decided to further delay scanner set up as the first Complement of Integrated Protocols for Human Exploration Research (CIPHER) astronaut will not fly before January 2022, and scanner hardware and/or software may change before our first scan. We will make sure that we will set up the scanner close to the pre-flight scan of the first astronaut.

Bibliography: Description: (Last Updated: 06/19/2025) 

Show Cumulative Bibliography
 
Articles in Peer-reviewed Journals Smith MG, Kelley M, Basner M. "A brief history of spaceflight from 1961 to 2020: An analysis of missions and astronaut demographics." Acta Astronaut. 2020 Oct;175:290-9. Epub 2020 Jun 3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2020.06.004 ; PMID: 32801403; PMCID: PMC7422727 , Oct-2020
Back to Search Results    
Project Title:  Temporal Nature of Cognitive and Visuospatial Brain Domain Changes During Long-Duration Low-Earth Orbit Missions Reduce
Images: icon  Fiscal Year: FY 2020 
Division: Human Research 
Research Discipline/Element:
HRP HFBP:Human Factors & Behavioral Performance (IRP Rev H)
 Start Date: 06/01/2019  
End Date: 12/31/2027  
Task Last Updated: 03/30/2020 		 Download Task Book report in PDF pdf
Principal Investigator/Affiliation:   Basner, Mathias  M.D., Ph.D. / University of Pennsylvania 
Address:  Department of Psychiatry, Division of Sleep and Chronobiology 
423 Service Dr, 1013 Blockley Hall 
Philadelphia , PA 19104-4209 		 Email: basner@pennmedicine.upenn.edu 
Phone: 215-573-5866  
Congressional District: 2 
Web:  
 Organization Type: UNIVERSITY 
Organization Name: University of Pennsylvania 
Joint Agency:  
Comments:  
Co-Investigator(s)
Affiliation: 
Dinges, David  Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 
Gunga, Hanns-Christian  M.D. Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Germany 
Gur, Ruben  Ph.D. The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania 
Hartley, Tom  Ph.D. University of York, United Kingdom 
Kuehn, Simone  Ph.D. Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany 
Moore, Tyler  Ph.D. Trustees of Tufts College 
Riecke, Bernhard  Ph.D. Simon Fraser University, Canada 
Roalf, David  Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 
Roma, Peter  Ph.D. NASA Johnson Space Center 
Schneiderman, Jason  Ph.D. Wyle Laboratories, Inc./NASA Johnson Space Center 
Wolbers, Thomas  Ph.D. German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Germany 
Stahn, Alexander  Ph.D. Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Germany (University of Pennsylvania) 
Project Information: Grant/Contract No. 80NSSC19K1046 
Responsible Center: NASA JSC 
Grant Monitor: Williams, Thomas  
Center Contact: 281-483-8773 
thomas.j.will1@nasa.gov 
Unique ID: 12443  		Solicitation / Funding Source: 2017-2018 HERO 80JSC017N0001-BPBA Topics in Biological, Physiological, and Behavioral Adaptations to Spaceflight. Appendix C 
Grant/Contract No.: 80NSSC19K1046 
Project Type: Flight 
Flight Program:  
TechPort: No  		No. of Post Docs: 0 
No. of PhD Candidates: 0 
No. of Master's Candidates: 0 
No. of Bachelor's Candidates: 0  		No. of PhD Degrees: 0 
No. of Master's Degrees: 0 
No. of Bachelor's Degrees: 0 
Human Research Program Elements: (1) HFBP:Human Factors & Behavioral Performance (IRP Rev H)
Human Research Program Risks: (1) BMed:Risk of Adverse Cognitive or Behavioral Conditions and Psychiatric Disorders
(2) Sensorimotor:Risk of Altered Sensorimotor/Vestibular Function Impacting Critical Mission Tasks
Human Research Program Gaps: (1) BMed-101:Identify, quantify, and validate key selection factors for requisite performance on increasingly Earth-independent, long-duration, autonomous, and/or long-distance exploration missions
(2) BMed-102:Identify and characterize key C/P/Psy/N outcome measures (biomarkers) and domains of relevance that are at risk due to spaceflight environmental stressors in exploration class missions and determine validated thresholds for identified biomarkers of adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes to enable mission objectives and identify indicators of risk before progression to clinical levels of impairment.
(3) BMed-103:Identify validated, evidence-based countermeasures to prevent or treat adverse C/P/Psy/N conditions caused by single or combined exposures to spaceflight environmental stressors.
(4) BMed-104:Identify design features and requirements of the habitat/vehicle and mission architecture to mitigate stressors impacting C/P/Psy/N health.
(5) BMed-105:Identify validated medical or dietary countermeasures to mitigate spaceflight environmental stressors impacting C/P/Psy/N health.
(6) BMed-107:Determine long-term changes and risks to astronaut health post-mission that retrospectively predicts individual susceptibility to adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes and informs countermeasure implementation in current and future crews.
(7) BMed-108:Identify and characterize the potential impacts of combined spaceflight environmental stressors to inform both validated threshold limits and countermeasure for adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes.
(8) SM-104:Evaluate how weightlessness-induced changes in sensorimotor/vestibular function relate to and/or interact with changes in other brain functions (sleep, cognition, attention).
Flight Assignment/Project Notes: NOTE: End date changed to 12/31/2027 per NSSC information (Ed., 1/27/21)

Task Description: This is an international proposal consisting of 2 projects with synergistic aims that will be carried out in a joint effort by Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR: German Aerospace Center)/European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. It addresses the Human Research Program (HRP) Risk of Adverse Cognitive or Behavioral Conditions and Psychiatric Disorders, Human Research Program's requirement to demonstrate the presence or absence of unacceptable deleterious neurocognitive effects beyond the experience base of six-month expeditions, and to permit extrapolation to early interplanetary expeditions. It also addresses several other critical Human Research Program risks and gaps (e.g., BMed1, BMed2, BMed3, BMed5, CNS-1, SM26). More specifically, we will target NASA's particular interest in studying the 'Cognitive-perceptual-visuospatial brain domain changes due to isolation and confinement' as part of the integrated One-Year Mission Project (i1YMP) on the International Space Station (ISS). The data we propose to collect will - for the first time - reliably demonstrate whether prolonging mission duration to one year will have detrimental effects on general cognitive performance (measured with the Cognition test battery), spatial cognition, structural and functional brain changes in general, and hippocampal plasticity more specifically relative to the shorter 6-month and 2-month missions. Using state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques (that include functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing the Cognition test battery in the scanner), we will determine the biological basis for any changes in cognitive performance, with a focus on hippocampal plasticity. Similar data already gathered on the ISS and in several short- and long-duration space analog environments will be used to generate a normative data base for long-duration missions. Finally, we will derive dose-response relationships between cognitive-visuospatial brain domain changes and mission duration that will allow predicting vulnerability to adverse cognitive or behavioral impairment and psychiatric disorders on interplanetary expeditions such as a mission to Mars. The two 7-yr projects will deliver a highly unique and comprehensive set of integrated neuroimaging and neurocognitive tools for the evaluation and ultimately prevention of adverse effects on brain structure and function that lead to behavioral effects associated with exploration-type missions.

Research Impact/Earth Benefits: The two 7-yr projects will deliver a highly unique and comprehensive set of integrated neuroimaging and neurocognitive tools for the evaluation and ultimately prevention of adverse effects on brain structure and function that lead to behavioral effects associated with exploration-type missions. As the Cognition test battery was developed for high-performing subject populations, this work will also translate to high performing populations on Earth (e.g., physicians, submariners).

Task Progress & Bibliography Information FY2020 
Task Progress: The project is currently in its definition phase. The following definition phase objectives were met: Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was obtained on December 2, 2019. We worked diligently with Research Operations and Integration (ROI) and the other integrated One-Year Mission Project (i1YMP) investigators to integrate our project. We acquired hardware for administering our imaging protocol at the Victory Lakes facility of University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). With approval of the element, we postponed setting up our protocol in the scanner as the facility plans software and hardware updates in the near future. Dr. Basner attended all virtual meetings and an investigator meeting at Johnson Space Center (JSC) at the end of January 2020.

Bibliography: Description: (Last Updated: 06/19/2025) 

Show Cumulative Bibliography
 
 None in FY 2020
Back to Search Results    
Project Title:  Temporal Nature of Cognitive and Visuospatial Brain Domain Changes During Long-Duration Low-Earth Orbit Missions Reduce
Images: icon  Fiscal Year: FY 2019 
Division: Human Research 
Research Discipline/Element:
HRP HFBP:Human Factors & Behavioral Performance (IRP Rev H)
 Start Date: 06/01/2019  
End Date: 05/31/2026  
Task Last Updated: 07/12/2019 		 Download Task Book report in PDF pdf
Principal Investigator/Affiliation:   Basner, Mathias  M.D., Ph.D. / University of Pennsylvania 
Address:  Department of Psychiatry, Division of Sleep and Chronobiology 
423 Service Dr, 1013 Blockley Hall 
Philadelphia , PA 19104-4209 		 Email: basner@pennmedicine.upenn.edu 
Phone: 215-573-5866  
Congressional District: 2 
Web:  
 Organization Type: UNIVERSITY 
Organization Name: University of Pennsylvania 
Joint Agency:  
Comments:  
Co-Investigator(s)
Affiliation: 
Dinges, David  Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 
Gunga, Hanns-Christian  M.D. Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Germany 
Gur, Ruben  Ph.D. The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania 
Hartley, Tom  Ph.D. University of York, United Kingdom 
Kuehn, Simone  Ph.D. Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany 
Moore, Tyler  Ph.D. Trustees of Tufts College 
Riecke, Bernhard  Ph.D. Simon Fraser University, Canada 
Roalf, David  Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 
Roma, Peter  Ph.D. NASA Johnson Space Center 
Schneiderman, Jason  Ph.D. Wyle Laboratories, Inc./NASA Johnson Space Center 
Wolbers, Thomas  Ph.D. German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Germany 
Stahn, Alexander  Ph.D. Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Germany (University of Pennsylvania) 
Project Information: Grant/Contract No. 80NSSC19K1046 
Responsible Center: NASA JSC 
Grant Monitor: Williams, Thomas  
Center Contact: 281-483-8773 
thomas.j.will1@nasa.gov 
Unique ID: 12443  		Solicitation / Funding Source: 2017-2018 HERO 80JSC017N0001-BPBA Topics in Biological, Physiological, and Behavioral Adaptations to Spaceflight. Appendix C 
Grant/Contract No.: 80NSSC19K1046 
Project Type: Flight 
Flight Program:  
TechPort: No  		No. of Post Docs:  
No. of PhD Candidates:  
No. of Master's Candidates:  
No. of Bachelor's Candidates:   		No. of PhD Degrees:  
No. of Master's Degrees:  
No. of Bachelor's Degrees:  
Human Research Program Elements: (1) HFBP:Human Factors & Behavioral Performance (IRP Rev H)
Human Research Program Risks: (1) BMed:Risk of Adverse Cognitive or Behavioral Conditions and Psychiatric Disorders
(2) Sensorimotor:Risk of Altered Sensorimotor/Vestibular Function Impacting Critical Mission Tasks
Human Research Program Gaps: (1) BMed-101:Identify, quantify, and validate key selection factors for requisite performance on increasingly Earth-independent, long-duration, autonomous, and/or long-distance exploration missions
(2) BMed-102:Identify and characterize key C/P/Psy/N outcome measures (biomarkers) and domains of relevance that are at risk due to spaceflight environmental stressors in exploration class missions and determine validated thresholds for identified biomarkers of adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes to enable mission objectives and identify indicators of risk before progression to clinical levels of impairment.
(3) BMed-103:Identify validated, evidence-based countermeasures to prevent or treat adverse C/P/Psy/N conditions caused by single or combined exposures to spaceflight environmental stressors.
(4) BMed-104:Identify design features and requirements of the habitat/vehicle and mission architecture to mitigate stressors impacting C/P/Psy/N health.
(5) BMed-105:Identify validated medical or dietary countermeasures to mitigate spaceflight environmental stressors impacting C/P/Psy/N health.
(6) BMed-107:Determine long-term changes and risks to astronaut health post-mission that retrospectively predicts individual susceptibility to adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes and informs countermeasure implementation in current and future crews.
(7) BMed-108:Identify and characterize the potential impacts of combined spaceflight environmental stressors to inform both validated threshold limits and countermeasure for adverse C/P/Psy/N outcomes.
(8) SM-104:Evaluate how weightlessness-induced changes in sensorimotor/vestibular function relate to and/or interact with changes in other brain functions (sleep, cognition, attention).
Task Description: This is an international proposal consisting of 2 projects with synergistic aims that will be carried out in a joint effort by Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR: German Aerospace Center)/European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. It addresses the HRP Risk of Adverse Cognitive or Behavioral Conditions and Psychiatric Disorders, Human Research Program's requirement to demonstrate the presence or absence of unacceptable deleterious neurocognitive effects beyond the experience base of six-month expeditions, and to permit extrapolation to early interplanetary expeditions. It also addresses several other critical Human Research Program risks and gaps (e.g., BMed1, BMed2, BMed3, BMed5, CNS-1, SM26). More specifically, we will target NASA's particular interest in studying the 'Cognitive-perceptual-visuospatial brain domain changes due to isolation and confinement' as part of the integrated One-Year Mission Project (i1YMP) on the International Space Station (ISS). The data we propose to collect will - for the first time - reliably demonstrate whether prolonging mission duration to one year will have detrimental effects on general cognitive performance (measured with the Cognition test battery), spatial cognition, structural and functional brain changes in general, and hippocampal plasticity more specifically relative to the shorter 6-month and 2-month missions. Using state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques (that include functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing the Cognition test battery in the scanner), we will determine the biological basis for any changes in cognitive performance, with a focus on hippocampal plasticity. Similar data already gathered on the ISS and in several short- and long-duration space analog environments will be used to generate a normative data base for long-duration missions. Finally, we will derive dose-response relationships between cognitive-visuospatial brain domain changes and mission duration that will allow predicting vulnerability to adverse cognitive or behavioral impairment and psychiatric disorders on interplanetary expeditions such as a mission to Mars. The two 7-yr projects will deliver a highly unique and comprehensive set of integrated neuroimaging and neurocognitive tools for the evaluation and ultimately prevention of adverse effects on brain structure and function that lead to behavioral effects associated with exploration-type missions.

Research Impact/Earth Benefits:

Task Progress & Bibliography Information FY2019 
Task Progress: New project for FY2019.

Bibliography: Description: (Last Updated: 06/19/2025) 

Show Cumulative Bibliography
 
 None in FY 2019
Back to Search Results