Exercise in Isolation- A Countermeasure for Electrocortical, Mental and Cognitive Impairments

Abstract

IntroductionMental impairments, including deterioration of mood and cognitive performance, are known to occur during isolation and space missions, but have been insufficiently investigated. Appropriate countermeasures are required, such as exercise, which is known to prevent mood disorders for prolonged space and isolation missions. Based on the interaction of brain activity, mood and cognitive performance, this study aims to investigate the effect of long-term isolation and confinement and the long-term effect of exercise on these parameters.MethodsEight male volunteers were isolated and confined for about eight month during the winter period at the Antarctic Concordia Station. Every six weeks electroencephalographic measurements were recorded under rest conditions, and cognitive tests and a mood questionnaire were executed. Based individual training logs, subjects were afterwards separated into an active (> 2500 arbitrary training units/interval) or inactive (< 2500 arbitrary training units/interval) group.ResultsA long-term effect of exercise was observed for brain activity and mood. Regularly active people showed a decreased brain activity (alpha and beta) in the course of isolation, and steady mood. Inactive people instead first increased and than remained at high brain activity accompanied with a deterioration of mood. No effect of exercise and isolation was found for cognitive performance.ConclusionThe findings point out the positive effect of regularly performed voluntary exercise, supporting subjective mental well-being of long-term isolated people. The choice to be regularly active seems to support mental health, which is not only of interest for future isolation and space missions.

The impact of long-term confinement and exercise on central and peripheral stress markers

“…Although the detailed mechanisms need further investigation the increase in brain activity caused by moderate exercise might probably mirror previously reported positive effects of exercise on mood and cognition [24][25][26]. Such positive effects on mood and cognition have been reported to be not only acute [13] but also to increase mood [14] and cognitive performance [27] permanently. These positive effects of exercise should be considered when planning the daily schedule of every human, but especially of those living in isolation.…”

“…This has been described before for short-term isolation [3] and it has been hypothesized that this reflects a sensory deprivation caused by the monotonous environment and daily routines. Previous studies were also able to show that such a decrease in cortical activity is related to a decrease in mood [3,14] but not cognitive performance [14]. In contrast an increase in cortical activity during long-term isolation has been reported to result in an increase in cognitive performance [13].…”

Effects of isolation and confinement on humans-implications for manned space explorations

“…During the initial winter assignment of the US Amundsen-Scott Station at the South Pole in 1956 under the framework of the International Geophysical Year (IGY), one of the team members developed a severe case of paranoid schizophrenia. This endangered the crew as well as the mission where he had to be sedated and confined for the rest of his stay (1,53,55). The arduous weather conditions in Antarctica and the awareness of long-term confinement with a group of mostly strangers can be quite challenging and stressful for the human mind (54).…”

Ergonomic Challenges for Astronauts during Space Travel and the Need for Space Medicine

“…It is essential to develop a deeper understanding on the potential for attenuation of brain function given the striking effect of spaceflight on structural plasticity and changes in grey matter volume [33], some of which may be attributable to fluid shifts. Moreover, exercise in isolation has proven an effective countermeasure for both cognitive and mental impairments [34].…”

“…This allows mission planners to propose and agree mitigation risks, some of which will include the development and refinement of countermeasures. There are many reviews which summarise the potential and actual countermeasures which are in put in place and a representative set is cited for further interest [2, 7,10,34,50,53,57,71,72,74,[76][77][78][79][80][81]. In Table 2, countermeasures in operation today are described for each of the physiological and psychological effects of spaceflight described in the preceding sections.…”