Title Unconscious mind activates central cardiovascular network and promotes adaptation to microgravity possibly anti-aging during 1-year-long spaceflight.
Author Otsuka, Kuniaki; Cornelissen, Germaine; Furukawa, Satoshi; Shibata, Koichi; Kubo, Yutaka; Mizuno, Koh; Aiba, Tatsuya; Ohshima, Hiroshi; Mukai, Chiaki
Journal Sci Rep Publication Year/Month 2022-Jul
PMID 35831420 PMCID PMC9279338
Affiliation + expend 1.Executive Medical Center, Related Medical Facility, Totsuka Royal Clinic, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Sinjuku City, Tokyo, Japan. frtotk99@ba2.so-net.ne.jp.

The intrinsic cardiovascular regulatory system (beta, 0.00013-0.02 Hz) did not adapt to microgravity after a 6-month spaceflight. The infraslow oscillation (ISO, 0.01-0.10 Hz) coordinating brain dynamics via thalamic astrocytes plays a key role in the adaptation to novel environments. We investigate the adaptive process of a healthy astronaut during a 12-month-long spaceflight by analyzing heart rate variability (HRV) in the LF (0.01-0.05 Hz) and MF1 (0.05-0.10 Hz) bands for two consecutive days on four occasions: before launch, at 1-month (ISS01) and 11-month (ISS02) in space, and after return to Earth. Alteration of beta during ISS01 improved during ISS02 (P = 0.0167). During ISS01, LF and MF1 bands, reflecting default mode network (DMN) activity, started to increase at night (by 43.1% and 32.0%, respectively), when suprachiasmatic astrocytes are most active, followed by a 25.9% increase in MF1-band throughout the entire day during ISS02, larger at night (47.4%) than during daytime. Magnetic declination correlated positively with beta during ISS01 (r = 0.6706, P < 0.0001) and ISS02 (r = 0.3958, P = 0.0095). Magnetic fluctuations may affect suprachiasmatic astrocytes, and the DMN involving ISOs and thalamic astrocytes may then be activated, first at night, then during the entire day, a mechanism that could perhaps promote an anti-aging effect noted in other investigations.

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