CHOICE II, is a follow up from a previous study in response to an ESA AO-CONCORDIA in 2007. That earlier proposal "CHOICE" (here further designated as CHOICE I) was implemented and successfully completed at CONCORDIA between 2008 and 2011 (end of experiment). As a logical consequence from these first and integrative observations demonstrating significant changes in immune and neuroendocrine parameters in the overwintering crew members, we are now focussing on deepening our understanding of these first observations using novel functional and molecular tests and analyses. They will help to decipher some of the mechanisms of adaptation to confinement under hypobaric hypoxia.

This study is part of the 1-Year Mission complement of studies led by the NASA Human Research Program. This study is based on the premise that sleep serves as the central physiological regulator of cognitive / behavioral, neurophysiological, and immune functions. Therefore, the study of sleep quality and duration on orbit may yield important insights into etiology and mechanisms of adverse cognitive/behavioral, space flight associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS), and immunological responses during long duration deep space exploration missions. We therefore propose to use an integrated approach combining assessments of (1) sleep quality and duration, (2) intracranial fluids distribution, (3) cognitive performance, and (4) immunological response, (5) changes in these physiological measures relative to sleep quality and duration. We propose to collect data on crewmembers participating in integrated one-year mission project (i1YMP) aboard the International Space Station (ISS), and demographically matched control subjects in Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) for missions of similar durations. The outcomes of the study will contribute to quantification of crew health and performance risks associated with human spaceflight, and aid in development of technologies for monitoring and mitigating crew health and performance.  Specific aims include:

1.  Characterize cognitive and operational task performance changes during the i1YMP on the ISS.

2.  Characterize brain and systemic physiology changes during i1YMP on the ISS.

3.  Characterize the effects of sleep duration and quality on cerebral and whole-body hemodynamics on ISS and in HERA.

4.  Quantify the effects of sleep duration and quality on immune response.

1. The purpose of this study will be to develop countermeasures (i.e., exercise, pharmaceutical or nutritional supplements) to mitigate the adverse effects of spaceflight on the immune system as documented by Immune SMO study.

Integration/Unique Aspects: TBD