Intrinsic functional connectivity reduces after first-time exposure to short-term gravitational alterations induced by parabolic flight
Intrinsic functional connectivity reduces after first-time exposure to short-term gravitational alterations induced by parabolic flight
- Event time: 11:30am until 12:30pm
- Event date: 10th November 2017
- Speaker: Rosie Cane (Formerly School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Edinburgh)
- Location: Room 2511, James Clerk Maxwell Building (JCMB) James Clerk Maxwell Building Peter Guthrie Tait Road Edinburgh EH9 3FD GB
Event details
Spaceflight severely impacts the human body. However, little is known about how gravity and
gravitational alterations affect the human brain. Here, we aimed at measuring the effects of acute
exposure to gravity transitions. We exposed 28 naïve participants to repetitive alterations between
normal, hyper- and microgravity induced by a parabolic flight (PF) and measured functional MRI
connectivity changes. Scans were acquired before and after the PF. To mitigate motion sickness,
PF participants received scopolamine prior to PF. To account for the scopolamine effects, 12 non-PF
controls were scanned prior to and after scopolamine injection. Changes in functional connectivity
were explored with the Intrinsic Connectivity Contrast (ICC). Seed-based analysis on the regions
exhibiting localized changes was subsequently performed to understand the networks associated
with the identified nodes. We found that the PF group was characterized by lower ICC scores in the
right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ), an area involved in multisensory integration and spatial
tasks. The encompassed network revealed PF-related decreases in within- and inter-hemispheric
anticorrelations between the rTPJ and the supramarginal gyri, indicating both altered vestibular and
self-related functions. Our findings shed light on how the brain copes with gravity transitions, on gravity
internalization and are relevant for the understanding of bodily self-consciousness.
Event resources
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