Astronauts increase the risk of dementia

Long flights in space, such as a trip to Mars, may increase the risk of developing dementia in humans.

The Medical Center at the University of Rochester in the US conducted a study at the request of the US Aerospace Agency (NASA) to examine the effects of cosmic radiation (particles carrying electrical charge in space). for animal brain. They let the mice exposed to cosmic radiation for a long time. The team constantly changed the intensity of the radiation rays to match the conditions in the space environment, Space Daily reported.

An astronaut works outside the International Space Station on earth orbit.  

Experts then assessed the ability to remember the object or location that the mice once memorized before the experiment took place. The results show that their memory capacity is significantly reduced.

"Cosmic radiation can pose a big risk to future astronauts. This study demonstrates that, if humans are exposed to radiation streams in a long space flight, like onions. When it comes to Mars, the brain changes in the direction that we are more likely to get Alzheimer's disease, ' said Michael O'Banion, a member of the research team.

NASA wants to take people to a distant meteorite in 2021 and to Mars in 2035. The time for a spaceship to fly to Mars and return is about three years.

Charged particles appear everywhere in the universe. However, the existence of the earth's magnetic field makes them unable to penetrate the human body on the ground and low orbit. But if astronauts leave low orbit, exposure to charged particles will skyrocket.