Extreme environments for understanding brain and cognition

Alexander C Stahn; Simone Kühn

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2021.10.005

Extreme environments for understanding brain and cognition

Trends Cogn Sci. 2022 Jan;26(1):1-3. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.10.005. Epub 2021 Oct 26.

Authors

Alexander C Stahn¹, Simone Kühn²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Physiology, 10117 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: astahn@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
² Lise Meitner Group for Environmental Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.

PMID: 34711517
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.10.005

Abstract

Can life in extreme environments foster our understanding of the limits and adaptability of cognition and brain plasticity? We review characteristics of spaceflight and spaceflight analogues, such as bed rest, dry immersion, parabolic flights, and isolated and controlled confinement, and discuss the potential of utilizing these research settings to advance cognitive neuroscience.

Keywords: brain; cognitive performance; deprivation; extreme environments; gravity; isolation; loneliness; spaceflight.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Brain
Cognition
Extreme Environments
Humans
Space Flight*
Weightlessness*