COGNITIVE CARDIOVASCULAR EXPERIMENT-2 (CARDIOCOG-2)
Research Area: Cardiovascular and Respiratory Systems
Expedition(s): 12- 15
Principal Investigator(s): ● Andre Aubert, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The Cognitive Cardiovascular Experiment (Cardiocog-2) experiment studies the impacts of
weightlessness on the cardiovascular system and the respiratory system. This investigation
examines stress and cognitive and physiological reactions of crew members during long-
duration space missions on the International Space Station.
RESULTS
Cardiocog-2 was a comprehensive in-flight
study with 6 astronauts/cosmonauts who
took part in 6 long-duration increments for
up to 6 months. In this study, primary
cardiovascular data were measured as a
function of body position preflight and in
weightlessness. The main findings were
that heart rate and blood pressure in
weightlessness did not change significantly
compared to the supine (lying face
upward) preflight values during these
extended stays. However, long-term space
missions seem to induce chronic relaxation
of the circulation in humans, which was
nicely demonstrated by one of the
subjects having borderline high blood
pressure before flight and subsequently
showing normal blood pressure in space. One interesting (and unexpected) result was the
blood pressure neural feedback linked to controlling heart rate appeared to slow significantly in
space but the cause(s) was (were) unclear and needs further investigation.
No astronauts in the studies showed symptoms or signs of impending fainting the first days
after landing, which strongly supported the involvement of effective exercise countermeasures
in the adaptation process to prolonged space missions. It was suggested that individual
performance on countermeasures should therefore be shared between scientists in the future
to improve the depth, scientific outcome, and overall conclusion of these studies (Verheyden
2009, 2010).
PUBLICATION(S)
Verheyden B, Liu J, Beckers F, Aubert AE. Operational point of neural cardiovascular regulation
in humans up to 6 months in space. Journal of Applied Physiology. 2010;108:646-654. doi:
10.1152/japplphysiol.00883.2009.
Cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, Expedition 15 flight engineer,
collects medical data for the Cognitive Cardiovascular
experiment in the Zvezda Service Module of the
International Space Station. ESA image.