Antwerp (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Belgian Professor Floris Wuyts of the University of Antwerp partners with NASA, ESA, and Roscosmos to study astronauts’ brains, focusing on balance, neuroplasticity, and spaceflight-related changes.
As Nieuwsblad News reported, professor Floris Wuyts of the University of Antwerp has secured a major partnership with NASA to study how space affects the human brain. Since 2007, researchers in Belgium have been examining body reactions to space travel, which included topics like muscle loss, balance issues, and a weaker sense of smell.
The team is now looking at the brain itself and includes astronauts from Europe, the United States, and Russia. The study will investigate what changes occur during and after space missions. NASA asked for this collaboration to expand the study because of the value of Belgium’s research.
What can Belgian Prof. Wuyts’ NASA, ESA, Roscosmos study reveal about astronaut brains?
According to officials, 30 astronauts have undergone MRI scans as part of the project. The new partnership will double the number of brain scans taken before and after space missions. This will give scientists more information about how long-term space travel affects the brain.
“Thanks to the collaboration with ESA, Roscosmos, and NASA, we’re learning a great deal,”
says Professor Wuyts.
“We’re now going from thirty to sixty scans. That means we’ll have examined about a quarter of all the people who flew to the ISS over six months.”
According to Professor Floris Wuyts, space constitutes a unique setting to investigate the human brain. His research interest is primarily in the area of balance and neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to adapt to novel circumstances.
He emphasised that in microgravity, the brain is tested in ways that cannot be replicated on Earth. The collective behaviour of astronauts in space offers researchers an opportunity to learn more about how humans adapt their brains and reorganise.
Arnaud Vajda, Chairman of the Belso Executive Board, says space research shows how science can bring people together. “Even with global political tensions, science continues to connect us,” he says.
Professor Floris Wuyts from Belgium has been examining how spaceflight affects the body for over 20 years. Since the early 2000s, he and his associates at the University of Antwerp have been working in relation to how space impacts the brain and balance. Their studies have examined astronauts from NASA, ESA, and Roscosmos, over 50 astronauts in all, including astronauts who have spent months at the International Space Station.
In 2009, the team started the BRAIN-DTI project using advanced MRI scans to study changes in the brain caused by spaceflight. By 2016, their work led to important publications showing how space travel can alter brain structure. In 2022, Wuyts analysed data from NASA, ESA, and Roscosmos and found significant changes in the brain, with possible links to space-related vision and neurological issues.
