Development and Validation of the Cognition Test Battery for Spaceflight

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Space Medicine
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Space missions demand sustained high-level cognitive performance.
• Environmental, physiological, and psychological stressors in space can impair brain function.
• Astronauts report cognitive fluctuations, but spaceflight's neurobehavioral effects remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce the Cognition test battery, designed for astronauts.
• Present normative and sleep deprivation data for the Cognition battery.
• Establish the validity, sensitivity, feasibility, and acceptability of Cognition.

Main Methods:

• Developed a computerized cognitive test battery (Cognition) with 15 forms across 10 neuropsychological tests.
• Cognition covers cognitive domains like emotion processing, spatial orientation, and risk decision-making.
• Utilized tests engaging specific brain regions, supported by functional neuroimaging.

Main Results:

• Significant practice effects and test-retest variability were observed across Cognition tests.
• One night of sleep deprivation showed medium to large effects on vigilant attention (d=1.00), cognitive throughput (d=0.68), and abstract reasoning (d=0.65).

Conclusions:

• Cognition provides novel, neuroimaging-based insights into spaceflight's cognitive effects.
• The battery facilitates comparisons between ground-based analogues and actual spaceflight.
• Standardized cognitive assessments enable consistent project data and future meta-analyses.