Trials / Not Yet Recruiting

Not Yet RecruitingNCT07293494

Neurobehavioral Changes Following Spaceflight Stressors

Status: Not Yet Recruiting
Phase: N/A
Study type: Interventional
Enrollment: 56 (estimated)

Sponsor: University of Pennsylvania · Academic / Other
Sex: All
Age: 25 Years – 60 Years
Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Detailed description

This study aims to investigate the impairing effects of known central nervous system (CNS) stressors in a controlled environment in order to predict and mitigate analogous risks in spaceflight. Up to 56 healthy individuals aged 25-60 will spend six days and five nights (24 hours a day) in a laboratory, where they will be exposed to 27 hours of sleep deprivation and will consume alcohol to reach a BAC of 0.08 on a separate day. They will also have an adaptation night, a control condition with no daytime or nighttime interventions, and a recovery night following the sleep deprivation condition. All subjects in a group will receive the three conditions (sleep deprivation, alcohol administration and control) in the same order, but this order will vary between study runs. Subjects will perform cognitive tests and sensorimotor tasks throughout the waking periods. They will undergo one MRI and two blood draws for each of the three conditions, for a total of three MRIs and six blood draws per subject. The scans and blood draws are timed to occur near the highest predicted level of impairment in order to capture the dose-response relationship between the stressor and performance. Combined with research from parallel rodent studies performed at a partner institution where rodents are exposed to alcohol administration, sleep deprivation and radiation, these data may allow us to estimate the performance decrements associated with exposure to radiation in humans to assess the radiation risks of spaceflight.

Conditions

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Alcohol Administration	For the alcohol administration condition (ALC), subjects will consume alcohol within a window of approximately fifteen minutes in the morning in order to induce a blood alcohol content (BAC) level of 0.08%, in the form of 80-proof vodka mixed with fruit juice or clear, noncaffeinated soda at a 1:3 ratio. The specific dosage is determined by the Widmark formula, factoring in each individual's body weight and sex. BAC will be measured by a NHTSA-approved evidential breath testing (EBT) device, which measures breath alcohol content (BrAC, in grams per 210 liters of breath) and converts it to BAC (in g/100ml or g/dl). BAC will be measured before and after every task until subjects go to bed at 11 PM, at which point their BAC is expected to be at or close to 0.00%. Subjects will undergo an MRI (shortly after alcohol consumption at what is anticipated to be their highest level of intoxication to capture the impairing effects) and two blood draws (in the morning and afternoon).
BEHAVIORAL	Sleep Deprivation	For the sleep deprivation condition (SD1\&2), subjects will remain awake for 27 hours from 8 AM until 11 AM the following morning (SD1). They will perform testing at regular intervals throughout the day and overnight, and they have two blood draws during the extended wake period. Subjects will undergo an MRI after approximately 25 hours of wakefulness, followed by a three-hour nap opportunity from 11 AM until 2 PM. They will then remain awake from 2 PM until 11 PM for testing and meals before returning to the standard sleep period of 11 PM to 8 AM (SD2). Caffeine will not be available to subjects during this period nor will it be available at any other time during the study.
OTHER	Control	During the control condition (CTRL), subjects will have no stressor intervention. They will not consume alcohol and they will sleep during the standard period of 11 PM to 8 AM. They will perform testing at regular intervals throughout the day. They will undergo an MRI in the morning, and have two blood draws (in the morning and afternoon).

Timeline

Start date: 2026-06-01
Primary completion: 2029-12-01
Completion: 2029-12-01
First posted: 2025-12-19
Last updated: 2025-12-29

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT07293494. Inclusion in this directory is not an endorsement.