Neurological Changes in Outer Space

Space travel is becoming a reality in our lifetime. When there is an acute shortage of neurologists worldwide (Ganapathy, 2015), discussing neurological changes in outer space could be considered outlandish. However, we need to be future ready. Understanding neurological changes due to microgravity and radiation exposure will eventually help improve understanding of neurobiology on earth. In an earlier publication (Ganapathy, 2018), the author demonstrated that Telemedicine has made distance meaningless. Closely monitoring health parameters in real-time and providing health care to astronauts and space tourists presupposes a basic knowledge of how various systems in the human body will behave in faraway space. Questions raised from constant exposure to zero gravity makes us think out-of-the-box. Fundamental issues are now being questioned including the influence of gravity on the central nervous system (Ganapathy, 2019). This communication essentially simplifies the complex technical global literature on this subject, making it easier for the interested reader.