Astronauts Going To Mars May Have To Suffer Anxiety And Brain Damage

One of the most important targets that scientists wish to conquer is how to sustain life on Mars. However, in order to survive on this planet, people must overcome a barrier, which is the harsh weather of Mars. At the same time, they will face the lack of oxygen, water as well as the means to grow food.

The problems faced on Mars do not seem to stop here. Landing on the Red Planet will also be a tough obstacle for astronauts. Not only do they have to maintain their physical strengths under the influence of zero gravity, they may also suffer from mental effects of long-term space travels.

An article published in eNeuro magazine recently pointed out more about this finding. Accordingly, chronic exposure to low-dose radiation from deep space exploration can pose serious risks, and negatively affect astronaut's cognitive ability and health.

Cosmic radiation has long been a constant presence in space study, but we don't experience its effects on Earth. Our atmosphere works to prevent these harmful rays from reaching the Earth's surface. The spacecraft are, in addition, specifically designed to counteract the effects of harmful radiation from within our Solar System. But that external radiation will scatter atoms when there is a collision with the shield. The astronauts inside the spacecraft will be exposed to many of these scattered atoms called Secondary Radiation.

Recently, researchers have also tested the effects of secondary radiation using neutron irradiation methods to simulate its long-term risks in interplanetary travels. They experimented on mice with low-dose and chronic radiation, which could lead to neurological and behavioral injuries.

The outcome was convincing that low dose radiation resulted in a loss of cognitive function and a decrease in cellular signaling to mice. And as a result, they show a decrease in learning and memory, as well as a number of behavioral issues and increased anxiety. Many researchers are skeptical of this result, including Francis Cucinotta, the health physicist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He argued that the result on mice has no association with the astronauts on the Moon or Mars. Meanwhile, Jeff Chancellor, a physicist at Louisiana State University, considered this as an interesting and realistic finding about radiation exposure in cosmo travelings.