The researchers recruited 10 fighter jet pilots from the Belgian Air Force, alongside a control group of 10 non-pilots, and performed MRI scans of their brains to establish the first-ever study of functional brain connectivity in fighter pilots.
The scans revealed that pilots with more flight experience showed specific brain connectivity patterns in areas related to processing sensorimotor information – the brain processes that cause motor responses in the central nervous system.
They also showed differences in brain connectivity compared with non-pilots.
Blasting off into space places significant demands on the body including altered levels of gravity, from the G-forces present during blast-off to the low-gravity environment in space.
Other issues include rapidly interpreting sensory and visual stimuli that are sometimes conflicting, while controlling a complex vehicle at extreme speeds.
These factors are a potent cocktail and previous research has suggested...