Infradian cardiovascular rhythms and between subject cardiovascular coupling in Mars 500 prolonged confinement study

• Autores: Vigo, Daniel Eduardo; Tuerlinckx, Francis; Scaramal, Mariano; Reimann Baptista, Rafael; Bersenev, Evgeny; Van Den Bergh, Omer; Aubert, André E.
• Año de publicación: 2025
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Materia: CARDIOVASCULAR PHYSIOLOGY; INFRADIAN RHYTHMS; BETWEEN SUBJECT SYNCHRONIZATION; PHASE COUPLING; EXTREME SOCIAL ISOLATION AND CONFINEMENT; SPACE EXPLORATION
• Institución: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Introduction: The aim of this study was to characterize infradian rhythms in heart rateand blood pressure, as well as investigate potential synchronization of theseparameters among participants in the Mars 500 study. This study involved a 520-daysimulated mission to Mars, during which six crew members were confined for theentire duration of the experiment. Methods: The study involved daily measurementsof blood pressure and heart rate, taken in the morning and evening for eachparticipant. Mean differences were analyzed using a mixed model design, consideringjourney stage and time of day as fixed factors, and participant as a random factor. TheLomb-Scargle periodogram was used to identify rhythmic patterns in the data.Significant rhythms were described by fitting a cosine curve using a cosinor model.The level of synchronization between participants´ measurements was assessed byanalyzing signal pairs using the Hilbert transform. Phase differences were measuredin one-month bins using the gamma parameter. Surrogate data was employed forcomparison with the observed data. Gamma differences between bins were evaluatedusing a mixed model design. Results: All signals showed significant changes overtime, and most participants exhibited at least one significant infradian rhythm in theanalyzed variables. The primary peaks varied between participants and variables,ranging from 22 days to 520 days. Interestingly, there was a consistent period of 173days observed in the evening heart rate across all participants. Regardingsynchronization, the gamma values of evening heart rate differed from surrogate datain all stages, except during the middle part of the mission. Discussion: The primaryfinding of this study is the identification of significant infradian rhythms incardiovascular variables, specifically in evening heart rate, with a shared andsynchronized period of 173 days among participants. We propose that affectivechanges associated with different stages of the mission, along with the cohesivefunctioning of the crew as a unit, may contribute to these variations.
Fil: Vigo, Daniel Eduardo. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires". Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas; Argentina
Fil: Tuerlinckx, Francis. Katholikie Universiteit Leuven; Bélgica
Fil: Scaramal, Mariano. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentina
Fil: Reimann Baptista, Rafael. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: Bersenev, Evgeny. Federal Scientific & Clinical Center For Space Medicine; Rusia
Fil: Van Den Bergh, Omer. Katholikie Universiteit Leuven; Bélgica
Fil: Aubert, André E.. Katholikie Universiteit Leuven; Bélgica