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Abstract
Space is characterized by risk and uncertainty. As humans play an important role in long-duration space missions, the ability to make risky decisions effectively is important for astronauts who spend extended time periods in space. The present study used the Balloon Analog Risk Task to conduct both behavioral and fMRI experiments to evaluate the effects of simulated microgravity on individuals' risk-taking behavior and the neural basis of the effect. The results showed that participants' risk-taking behavior was not affected by bed rest. However, we found that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) showed less deactivation after bed rest and that the VMPFC activation in the active choice condition showed no significant difference between the win outcome and the loss outcome after bed rest, although its activation was significantly greater in the win outcome than in the loss outcome before bed rest. These results suggested that the participants showed a decreased level of value calculation after the bed rest. Our findings can contribute to a better understanding of the effect of microgravity on individual higher-level cognitive functioning.
Highlights
Space is characterized by risk and uncertainty
Because humans play an important role in long-duration space missions, the ability to make risky decisions effectively is important for astronauts who spend extended periods of time in space
A repeated-measures One-Way ANCOVA with age as the covariate showed that there was no significant effect of time on the total number of pumps, F(1, 7) = 0.419, p = 0.888; the average number of pumps, F(1, 7) = 0.415, p = 0.891; the total number of wins, F(1, 7) = 0.516, p = 0.821; the total number of losses, F(1, 7) = 0.516, p = 0.821; the total earnings, F(1, 7) = 1.154, p = 0.336; the average number of adjusted pumps, F(1, 7) = 0.446, p = 0.870; the total number of adjusted pumps, F(1, 7) = 0.449, p = 0.846; or the reaction time, F(1, 7) = 0.498, p = 0.834
Summary
Space is characterized by risk and uncertainty. Humans have begun to study issues concerning interplanetary spaceflight (Basner et al, 2013). Long-duration space missions pose unique challenges and unexpected risks, and a successful space mission requires effective risk management. Because humans play an important role in long-duration space missions, the ability to make risky decisions effectively is important for astronauts who spend extended periods of time in space. Few studies have investigated astronauts’ risk-taking behavior (De la Torre et al, 2012). The current study was the first attempt to use both behavioral and fMRI experiments to evaluate the effect of simulated microgravity on individuals’ risk-taking behavior and the neural basis of this effect
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