As efforts to get to Mars become more advanced, a team of researchers at the University of California at Irvine say journeying to the Red Planet could have hazardous effects on astronauts’ brains.

In a recent study, the scientists say astronauts traveling to Mars are bombarded with highly energetic charged particles, similar to those found in the galactic cosmic rays with which astronauts are faced during extended spaceflights, according to a release. This can cause a phenomenon called "space brain," which may cause astronauts to not remember much of their journey.

"The Mars mission will result in an inevitable exposure to cosmic radiation that has been shown to cause cognitive impairments in rodent models, and possibly in astronauts engaged in deep space travel," the researchers wrote in the study.

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"This is not positive news for astronauts deployed on a two-to-three-year round trip to Mars," UCI School of Medicine professor of radiation oncology Charles Limoli said in the release. "The space environment poses unique hazards to astronauts.

"Exposure to these particles can lead to a range of potential central nervous system complications that can occur during and persist long after actual space travel – such as various performance decrements, memory deficits, anxiety, depression and impaired decision-making. Many of these adverse consequences to cognition may continue and progress throughout life."

The researchers are particularly concerned about the potential for the radiation exposure to compromise the astronauts' ability to make critical decisions during normal operations or under emergency conditions. 

To study the conditions, the researchers subjected rodents to charged particle irradiation at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory, the release stated. Six months later, they found significant levels of brain inflammation and neuron damage. Imaging showed that the brain’s neural network had been impaired through the reduction of dendrites and spines on the neurons, which disrupts signal transmission among brain cells.

Such deficiencies were parallel to poor performance on behavioral tasks designed to test learning and memory.

They also discovered that the radiation affected "fear extinction," which is an active process in which the brain suppresses prior unpleasant and stressful associations. For example, when someone who almost drowns relearns to enjoy being in water.

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“Deficits in fear extinction could make you prone to anxiety, which could become problematic over the course of a three-year trip to and from Mars,” said Limoli.

Dementia-like deficits in astronauts could take months to manifest - the same time required for a mission to Mars. According to the release, researchers are exploring possible solutions, such as designing spacecraft to include areas of increased shielding. However, the highly energetic charged particles will make it into the ship regardless.

“There is really no escaping them,” Limoli said.

Limoli’s group is also working on pharmacological strategies involving compounds that scavenge free radicals and protect neurotransmission.

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