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Electrocortical Evidence for Impaired Affective Picture Processing after Long-Term Immobilization
Katharina Brauns1, Anika Werner1,2, Hanns-Christian Gunga1
1Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, a corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Institute of Physiology, Charitéplatz 1, CharitéCrossOver, Virchowweg 6, 10117, Berlin, Germany.
Scientific Reports
|November 14, 2019
Summary
Thirty days of head-down tilt bed rest, a spaceflight analogue, reduced emotional brain responses in healthy men. This suggests potential neurobehavioral risks for astronauts affecting emotion regulation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Space Medicine
- Psychophysiology
Background:
- Spaceflight poses neurobehavioral risks, with limited understanding of resilience, social processes, and emotion regulation.
- Head-down tilt bed rest simulates spaceflight's physical inactivity, isolation, and confinement.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of 30-day bed rest on affective picture processing using event-related potentials (ERPs).
- To explore neurophysiological changes in emotion regulation during simulated long-duration spaceflight.
Main Methods:
- Healthy men underwent 30 days of 6-degree head-down tilt bed rest.
- Event-related potentials (ERPs), specifically P300 and Late Positive Potential (LPP) amplitudes, were measured during affective picture viewing.
- Source localization was used to identify brain regions with altered activity.
Main Results:
- Bed rest participants exhibited significantly decreased P300 and LPP amplitudes to emotional stimuli compared to controls.
- These reductions were most pronounced in centroparietal regions.
- Source localization indicated reduced activity in the posterior cingulate gyrus, insula, and precuneus for emotional stimuli in the bed rest group.
Conclusions:
- 30-day bed rest significantly alters affective picture processing, indicated by reduced ERP amplitudes and decreased activity in key brain regions.
- These findings highlight potential neurophysiological changes impacting emotion regulation during simulated spaceflight.
- Further research is needed to understand and mitigate these neurobehavioral risks for astronauts.
