The Impact of Spaceflight on the Brain

Spaceflight represents an extreme environment characterized by physical (microgravity and space radiation) and psycological/environmental (confined environment, distance from Earth) stressors.

Nevertheless, astronauts are capable of functioning and performing experiments under these extreme conditions, highlighting how the human brain can adapt and perform in abnormal environmental conditions.Previous studies, conducted at the bulk level, have indicated that spaceflight alters the human and mouse gene expression.

Recently, a study at spatial single-cell resolution from our laboratory has identified that space travel affect cellular mechanisms in specific regions of the mouse brain that are known to be also involved in pathophysiological conditions like neurodegenerative disorders.This project aims to discover new insights relatively to brain adaptability leveraging spaceflight as an extreme environment.

We will reveal the detailed molecular alterations induced by space travel on brain by studying unique samples deriving from mice that were flown on the International Space Station.

To this end, we will employ state-of-the-art technologies, i.e., single-cell multiomics, Spatial Transcriptomics and spatial mass spectrometry, to decode the alterations of the brain molecular programs caused by permanence in space.

Moreover, we will compare the detected molecular signatures to the ones observed in brains of Parkinson´s disease mouse models.Overall, this study holds the potential to provide novel insights to formulate new and fundamental hypotheses on brain plasticity opening up new strategies to improve human wellbeing and life quality.