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More than halfway through their journey aboard the
International Space Station
(ISS),
Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla
(Shux) and the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) crew have plunged deep into a battery of neuroscience experiments designed to decode how spaceflight alters memory, perception, speech, and even the body’s stress response. From virtual reality headsets to voice analysis and functional brain scans, the crew’s research is laying the foundation for safer, smarter, and longer human missions beyond Earth, while also holding the potential to yield insights for life on Earth. Inside the weightless lab, crew members donned a VR headset for the Neuromotion VR study, navigating attention-based tasks while wearing a cap lined with fNIRS (functional near-infrared spectroscopy) sensors. As per Axiom Space, these sensors track blood flow in the brain, offering real-time insight into how microgravity affects focus, planning, and movement. To triangulate these findings, astronauts also provided saliva and tear samples—biological markers that may reveal stress and neurochemical shifts in space.
Adding another layer to brain research, the team participated in the Voice in Space experiment, which could one day allow AI to detect signs of cognitive fatigue or stress based on speech alone. Cognitive flexibility was put to the test through the Acquired Equivalence Test, a psychological challenge that gauges associative learning in disorienting conditions. By measuring how astronauts process flipped or rotated visual cues in orbit compared to pre-and-post-flight performance, researchers hope to understand how the brain learns and adapts in unfamiliar environments.Mental acuity wasn’t the only focus. The Ax-4 team contributed to ‘ENPERCHAR’, a perceptual awareness study analysing how spatial orientation and environmental awareness shift without gravity’s pull. These insights are essential for designing future spacecraft and habitats that foster both mental and physical well-being.The Voyager Displays project also had the crew assessing eye movement, gaze tracking, and pointing accuracy. Simple tasks, like selecting a control or tracking motion, become more mentally taxing in microgravity. Understanding the link between cognition, stress, and sensorimotor function will help engineers build better, more intuitive systems for astronauts.Beyond the brain, Shukla continued operations for the Myogenesis study inside the Life Sciences Glovebox, examining the molecular drivers of muscle atrophy in space. The crew also explored neuromuscular electrical stimulation as a potential countermeasure, paving the way for breakthroughs that could benefit patients on Earth with age-related muscle decline or reduced mobility.From muscle loss to memory, and motion control to mental resilience, Shukla and the Ax-4 crew are trying to uncover what it truly means to take the human mind off Earth. Their efforts aren’t just shaping the future of spaceflight—they’re helping decode the biology of thought itself.