Research in Antarctica
Our Antarctic studies specialize in extreme environment human factors research, investigating how prolonged isolation and confinement affect human physiology, cognition, and psychological wellbeing. Using Antarctic research stations as Earth-based analogs for space missions, we conduct comprehensive studies of cognitive and neurological changes during long-duration isolation, particularly focusing on Antarctic winter-over missions that can last up to a full year. Our research examines critical areas including sleep patterns, autonomic function alterations, brain structural changes such as gray matter decline and hippocampal plasticity suppression, and behavioral responses to prolonged confinement.
In Antarctica, our team develops and tests evidence-based countermeasures to mitigate the negative effects of extreme isolation. These interventions include innovative hybrid training protocols that combine exercise with sensory stimulation, plant cultivation programs designed to improve behavioral health, and advanced cognitive and physiological monitoring systems. Our research portfolio encompasses studies on neurostructural changes, cognitive performance monitoring, biochemical responses to countermeasures, and the therapeutic effects of plant production on human behavioral health during extended missions. While our work is grounded in Antarctic research, it directly supports the future of long-duration space exploration missions. By understanding and addressing the human challenges of extended isolation in one of Earth's most extreme environments, our laboratory provides critical insights for maintaining crew health, cognitive performance, and psychological resilience during missions to Mars and other deep space destinations.
The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) is currently collaborating with the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) and the University of Pennsylvania to conduct research in Antarctica, which serves as a high-fidelity space analogue for understanding and managing astronaut health on future space missions. This collaboration includes a range of projects aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of both Antarctic expeditioners and astronauts. The research focuses on monitoring, diagnosing, and optimizing astronaut health during long-duration space missions, as well as developing technologies and methodologies to reduce risks associated with spaceflight.
Read more here: Astronauts to benefit from brain tests in Antarctica
Our research at the French-Italian Concordia station, commonly referred to as the “most remote station on Earth,” followed two crews (n=25) as they 'winter-overed' in the Antarctic- that is, as they remained confined to a research station with a small crew in a hostile environment with no rescue opportunity during the Antarctic winter, a time when there is little to no daylight, for an average of 12.7 months. We found that the cell volume in certain areas of the brain was lower immediately after the winter compared to scans taken before the winter, and that most of these changes were reversible six months after the crew returned from Antarctica. This research can help us understand the impact of spending time in isolated, confined and extreme environments and the risks to physiology, psychology and operational success, as humanity seeks to venture into increasingly dangerous habitats such as Mars.
Read more here: Transient gray matter decline during Antarctic isolation: Roles of sleep, exercise, and cognition
Your Brain on Antarctica Looks a Lot Like Space
Neurostructural, Cognitive, and Physiologic Changes During a 1-Year Antarctic Winter-Over Mission
Measuring the Impact of Loneliness and Social Isolation on Our Brains
Hybrid Training sought to assess the feasibility of physical exercise using a cycle ergometer combined with an interactive virtual environment as a new countermeasure to augment sensory stimulation and enhance neuroplasticity during long-duration space missions (LDSM). We assessed the effectiveness of this technology during overwintering of 15 months at the German Neumayer Station in Antarctica and compared these data to historic control subjects overwintering at the same station and for the same duration, but who were not receiving any countermeasures.
Read more here: Hybrid Training – A Sensory Stimulation Countermeasure for Long Duration Space Exploration Missions
Neumayer III sits on over 650 feet of ice on the Ekstrom Ice Shelf and hosts researchers year round, from meteorologists to botanists. Our team at Penn has conducted several campaigns with the crews that winter-over at the station, including traveling to the base to set up the equipment, training and debriefing the crews pre- and post-mission in Europe, to remotely monitoring their cognitive function, affect, sleep, heart rate variability, blood biomarkers and more over the course of their 14-month dispatch in a barren polar landscape. For our multi-year NASA Specialized Center of Research (NSCOR) project, we seek to evaluate the effects of physical and social deprivation in order to better understand resilience.
Read more here: Brain Changes in Response to Long Antarctic Expeditions
Scientists’ brains shrank after a long stay in Antarctica
Extended-duration, exploration class missions will require efficient and effective strategies to support crew health. As plant life both augments sensory stimulation and provides physical nutrition, it may prove an essential component during prolonged isolation and confinement. Veggie on ICE sought to assess the effect of plant growth and fresh food on behavioral health during 14 months of isolation and confinement at Neumayer III Station in Antarctica.
Read more here: Veggie on ICE: The Effects of Plant Production on Human Behavioral Health in Long-Duration Antarctic Overwintering Missions
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