Astronauts' sense of direction in low gravity to be studied by University of Calgary researchers

Long-term missions on the International Space Station can be gruelling affairs, and a new study by the University of Calgary and Canadian Space Agency will look at what impacts the extended exposure to low gravity has on astronauts' brains.

The study will investigate, in particular, the impact on astronauts' abilities to find their way around.

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Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques is set to participate in the study as part of his six-month mission to the International Space Station in late 2018 and early 2019.

"We are the perfect guinea pigs for medical research," Saint-Jacques said.

"There isn't a single system in your body that's not affected by the lack of gravity, in the sense that we've evolved on Earth over millions of years in the presence of gravity and our body works with gravity. You remove gravity, and everything goes out of whack. And, because of that, astronauts develop problems that often resemble real disease."

Giuseppe Iaria, the study's principal investigator, said the research will look at how the microgravity environment of the space station impacts a particular component of astronauts' brains known as the vestibular system.

"The vestibular information is important because it tells our brain where we are in space while we are moving and the speed we are moving with, and it's given by the gravitational forces that we have on us," he said.

The Canadian Space Agency is contributing $728,000 to the study over five years.

Iaria and his team plan to study 12 astronauts from around the world by doing MRIs on their brains, performing neuropsychological evaluations and testing their wayfinding abilities both before and after their space travel.

He hopes the research will lead to techniques that will help keep astronauts healthy during long-term missions while also providing a deeper understanding of neurological conditions that affect people's sense of direction here on Earth.

Saint-Jacques said being a subject in medical research is just "part of the job" for an astronaut, one which he's happy to do.

"If I can contribute to medical research and help save lives ultimately down the road, come up with the cure for something, that would be a great privilege," he said.