Long-duration spaceflight produces structural, functional, and hemodynamic brain changes driven by microgravity, radiation, elevated CO2, and isolation. Consequences include Spaceflight-Associated Neuro-Ocular Syndrome, vestibular imbalance, orthostatic intolerance, and cognitive disturbance....
No actionable change for clinical audiologists; this review covers spaceflight neurological effects in astronauts and has no direct implication for routine audiology or hearing clinic practice.
Spaceflight-induced neuro-otological changes — including vestibular and possibly auditory pathway alterations — may offer extreme-environment insights relevant to understanding balance and hearing disorders more broadly.
- 01Reviews neurological complications of long-duration spaceflight, including structural brain changes.
- 02Microgravity, radiation, elevated CO2, and isolation each contribute to neurological risk.
- 03Vestibular system disruption is a known spaceflight effect with parallels to clinical balance disorders.
- 04No direct human audiology clinical trial data; review-level evidence from a niche population.
- 05Published in NPJ Microgravity; highly specialized and peripheral to routine audiology practice.
Long-duration spaceflight causes structural and hemodynamic brain changes driven by microgravity, radiation, elevated CO2, and isolation.
studysupportedNeurological complications are a significant risk for astronauts on long-duration missions.
studysupported- PMID
- 42285983
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41526-026-00621-0.
- Journal
- NPJ Microgravity
- Publication type
- review
- Evidence level
- 2a
- Population
- Astronauts and cosmonauts on long-duration spaceflight missions
- Intervention
- Long-duration spaceflight exposure (microgravity, radiation, elevated CO2, isolation)
Primary outcomes
Brain structural changes; Cerebral hemodynamic changes; Neurological complication incidence