Episode 3: Spaceflight, Brain Science, and Aging with Dr. Rachael Seidler

In this episode, I interview Dr. Rachael Seidler. Dr. Seidler is a research scientist at the University of Florida College of Health and Human Performance, where she is also the graduate program coordinator.

Dr. Seidler's research primarily focuses on how our brain changes with aging, and how this affects our ability to complete motor tasks and our learning capabilities. She is also a NASA-funded scientist who explores the effects of spaceflight on the brain -- specifically how our motor and cognitive capabilities change in space, and what we can do to prevent or counteract these changes.

We briefly discuss the recent COVID-19 epidemic, and how this unique time period is influencing academia in general and her research specifically. We talk about changes she's implemented with her laboratory and what she is going to try to accomplish while "in quarantine." The conversation also begins with a bit of a background into Dr. Seidler's life as a scientist and how she got interested in research.

This was a fascinating conversation and one that I could have continued for hours. I hope you enjoy. Take a look at the show notes below for relevant links, references, and how you can "connect" with Dr. Seidler on social media!

Relevant links:

-Follow Dr. Seidler on Twitter: @SeidlerRachael

-Watch this podcast on YouTube

-Dr. Seidler’s lab page: www.SeidlerLab.com

-Dr. Seidler’s publications:

          -Google Scholar

          -NeuroTree

-Link to YouTube lecture: "This is Your Brain in Space"

- Support me on Patreon!

 

Show Notes:

 

5:30: How COVID-19 is affecting research and what Dr. Seidler is doing with her lab to manage research-related activities during the epidemic

 

12:45: Dr. Seidler’s experience using Twitter for science-related activities

 

17:40: How Dr. Seidler got interested in science and research, internship at NIKE, early college years

 

23:05: How brain structure and function change with aging

 

24:00 Prefrontal brain areas show the most significant and steepest structural declines with age

 

25:20: Why is there an increase in some brain activity with age? How does the balance of inhibitory and excitatory processes change?

30:00: Is the extra brain activity with aging compensatory, or a result of neuronal dedifferentiation? 

 

32:50: Compensation Related Utilization of Neural Circuits Hypothesis (CRUNCH) 

 

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00221/full#T2

36:30: Is the decline in brain structure and function with age intrinsic to the aging process, or a result of external/environmental factors?

 

39:00: Lifestyle factors that influence brain aging

 

Research by Denis Clark (UT Dallas) https://bbs.utdallas.edu/faculty/detail.php5?i=431

 

** Interesting paper I found by Dr. Clark: Cognitive Ability in Old Age is Predetermined by Age 20 (PNAS)

 

42:00: Do people get enough exercise? (Dr. Seidler doesn’t think so)

 

44:00: What strategies does Dr. Seidler implement to protect and enhance her brain health?

 

46:00: START DISCUSSION ON SPACEFLIGHT

 

47:05: How do we use what we learn in space that we can use to apply to human health on earth?

 

50:00: Why we spend so much money on space research when we haven’t even explored all of our own planet.

 

NASA research budget: https://www.thebalance.com/nasa-budget-current-funding-and-history-3306321

 

52:30: Why astronauts are at a higher risk for kidney stones, and a supplement that was created to combat this issue.

 

54:10: Don’t be a vegan astronaut

 

54:20: Why do we move differently in space than we do on earth?

 

55:00 How our vestibular system works

 

57:00 Motion sickness in space and why there is no “upside down” 

 

1:01:30: How long it takes to adapt to these changes, and how long it takes to “recover” once you return to earth

 

1:03:00 EXERCISE in space

 

Can exercise mitigate the bone/muscle mass loss that takes place during spaceflight?
Supplements that combat bone loss during spaceflight
Does exercise help with the coordination/movement impairments experienced in microgravity?

1:06:00 How much bone do astronauts lose while in space? (Almost 40 - 50%!!??)

 

NASA Twins Study: https://www.nasa.gov/twins-study

 

1:08:00: The psychological aspects of space (social isolation, motivation…)

 

1:09:45: Does the BRAIN undergo atrophy during spaceflight?

 

Fluid shifts in the brain, white matter structural degradation similar to (but faster than) what happens with aging, changes in the volume of brain ventricles by 20-30%

 

1:15:00: Do we have interventions to reduce brain changes during spaceflight?

 

Lower body negative pressure (LBNP)

 

1:18:00: How we study spaceflight in the lab (SPACE ANALOGS)