Nourishing the brain on deep space missions: nutritional psychiatry in promoting resilience

Nihar N Pathare; Flavia Fayet-Moore; Jennifer A Fogarty; Felice N Jacka; Philip Strandwitz; Gary E Strangman; Dorit B Donoviel

doi:10.3389/fncir.2023.1170395

Nourishing the brain on deep space missions: nutritional psychiatry in promoting resilience

Front Neural Circuits. 2023 Aug 17:17:1170395. doi: 10.3389/fncir.2023.1170395. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Nihar N Pathare¹, Flavia Fayet-Moore², Jennifer A Fogarty^{1

3

4}, Felice N Jacka^{5

6}, Philip Strandwitz⁷, Gary E Strangman^{8

9}, Dorit B Donoviel^{1

4

10}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Space Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States.
² Nutrition Research Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
³ Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States.
⁴ Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH), Houston, TX, United States.
⁵ Food and Mood Centre, Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation (IMPACT) Strategic Research Centre, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
⁷ Holobiome, Inc., Boston, MA, United States.
⁸ Neural Systems Group, Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Harvard-MIT, Charlestown, MA, United States.
⁹ Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States.
¹⁰ Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States.

Abstract

The grueling psychological demands of a journey into deep space coupled with ever-increasing distances away from home pose a unique problem: how can we best take advantage of the benefits of fresh foods in a place that has none? Here, we consider the biggest challenges associated with our current spaceflight food system, highlight the importance of supporting optimal brain health on missions into deep space, and discuss evidence about food components that impact brain health. We propose a future food system that leverages the gut microbiota that can be individually tailored to best support the brain and mental health of crews on deep space long-duration missions. Working toward this goal, we will also be making investments in sustainable means to nourish the crew that remains here on spaceship Earth.

Keywords: astronaut; food; mental-health; microbiome; nutrition; probiotics; psychiatry; space.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Brain
Mental Health
Psychiatry*
Space Flight*

Grants and funding

DD, JF, and GS are currently and PS was previously supported by the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) through NASA NNX16AO69A.