As NASA prepares for longer space missions aiming for the Moon and Mars, astronauts’ health and performance are becoming a central concern due to the threats associated with galactic cosmic radiation, unnatural gravity fields, and life in extreme environments. In space, the human brain undergoes functional and structural changes related to fluid shift and changes in intracranial pressure. Behavioral abnormalities, such as cognitive deficits, sleep disruption, and visuomotor difficulties, as well as psychological effects, are also an issue. We discuss opportunities and challenges of noninvasive brain stimulation (NiBS) methods — including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) — to support space exploration in several ways. NiBS includes safe and portable techniques already applied in a wide range of cognitive and motor domains, as well as therapeutically. NiBS could be used to enhance in-flight performance, supporting astronauts during pre-flight Earth-based training, as well as to identify biomarkers of post-flight brain changes for optimization of rehabilitation/compensatory strategies. We review these NiBS techniques and their effects on brain physiology, psychology, and cognition.

随着美国国家航空航天局 (NASA) 为前往月球和火星的长期太空任务做准备，由于银河宇宙辐射、不自然重力场和极端环境中的生命带来的威胁，宇航员的健康和表现正成为人们关注的焦点。在太空中，人脑会经历与液体转移和颅内压变化相关的功能和结构变化。行为异常，如认知缺陷、睡眠中断、视觉运动困难以及心理影响，也是一个问题。我们讨论了无创脑刺激 (NiBS) 方法（包括经颅磁刺激 (TMS) 和经颅电刺激 (tES)）的机遇和挑战，以多种方式支持太空探索。 NiBS 包括已广泛应用于认知和运动领域以及治疗领域的安全和便携式技术。 NiBS 可用于增强飞行表现，在飞行前的地球训练期间支持宇航员，以及识别飞行后大脑变化的生物标志物，以优化康复/补偿策略。我们回顾了这些 NiBS 技术及其对大脑生理学、心理学和认知的影响。