2023-06-06 10:42:45
- Scientists can put mice and rats into a kind of hibernation called “torpor.”
- In that state, the rodents expend very little energy, which can be achieved by beaming ultrasounds to a specific spot in the brain.
- In the future, the technique may also be applied to humans for space travel and medical purposes.
- Read also: What is the maximum age you can get? Researchers think 150 years is the limit
Scientists know how to put mice and rats into a state of anesthesia by using ultrasonic sounds. That state of reduced physiological activity becomes ‘torpor’, a kind of hibernation. This involves a strongly reduced body temperature, heart rate, respiration and metabolism.
Space agencies such as NASA in from European Space Agency (ESA) are closely following the developments around activating a ‘hibernation’, because they hope to one day be able to apply this technique to people for long space journeys to Mars, for example.
To get rodents into a state where they use very little energy, ultrasonic waves are beamed to a specific spot in their brains, according to a recent study in the journal Nature Metabolism published research.
“If it can also be successfully applied to humans, this technique offers promising possibilities in the medical field, especially in life-threatening situations such as stroke or heart attack,” said study leader Hong Chen, a professor of biomedical engineering at Washington University. Live Science.
“Astronauts could potentially start wearing some kind of helmet that targets the hypothalamus to get into a torpor state,” she explains.
Mice and rats with little helmets
Torpor is a state in which the mice and rats appear to go to sleep, but in fact they drastically reduce their metabolic activity, often in response to extreme conditions.
Scientists have previously discovered that ‘torpor’ can be achieved by chemicals to inject in a specific part of the brain that controls our central nervous system. But Chen and her colleagues wanted to know if it was possible to achieve that state in a non-invasive way without physically damaging the skull.
Mice and rats were given a small helmet and ultrasonic waves were sent to their brains. As a result, the rodents ended up in a kind of hibernation.
Photo: Yang, Y., Yuan, J., Field, RL et al. Nat Metab 5, 789–803 (2023). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
About an hour after the ultrasound pulses, the mice’s body temperature and metabolism plummeted and they entered a state similar to “torpor” in nature.
The mice’s average body temperature dropped by 3.5 degrees Celsius and their heart rate and oxygen uptake also dropped. The body temperature also dropped in rats, although by 2 degrees less.
The fact that rats can also reach this state is significant, because they “don’t naturally do so and thus it seems possible that similar effects could be achieved in humans,” the researchers write.
This technology may be used for space travel in the future
Foto: SpaceWorks Enterprising
hold space agencies it sort research watch closely. If humans could be put in a state of ‘torpor’, deep space travel could become safer and cheaper. This would especially apply to long flights like the 16 months it takes to go up and down to Mars.
An astronaut eats and drinks about 30 kilos of food and water per week and that consumption can reduced by 75 percent when they are put in a state of suspended animation. The astronauts also need much less space and no special rooms need to be set up for them in the rocket.
That all together saves tons of weight and that is crucial in space travel where every kilo counts 2019 ESA study.
The condition of ‘torpor’ also carries health benefits. Research shows that astronauts would lose less muscle mass and bone strength and would also be protected against the worst effects of cosmic rays. It could also be good for the mental health of astronauts, since no one knows what happens to the human brain when people are away from Earth for a long time.
Such hibernation in space “will not be nearly as extreme as what we see in movies,” SpaceWorks Enterprises technology director John Bradford previously told CNET. The company received money from several times in 2016 NASA to develop a concept for hibernation in space.
At Spaceworks, astronauts would be sedated for 14 days and then awake for three or four days. In this way there is always an astronaut active who can keep an eye on all procedures.
Scientists are making progress, but they are far from there
Photo: Kaisa Siren/Lehtkuva/Reuters
One of the ways to achieve ‘torpor’ is to drastically lower body temperature. Surgeons are already using the concept of deep hypothermia to reduce body temperature below 35 degrees during complex heart operations. The circulation then temporarily stops, but that condition cannot last more than 20 to 30 minutes.
Other studies, such as the Washington University study described in this article, focus on influencing the anesthetizing mechanism in the brain. Previous studies show that the state of ‘torpor’ can be achieved with drugs, but the advantage of this new study is that it is done non-invasively and can be more precise and safer.
“As far as we know, the a wise man no specific traits that would prevent hibernation and I think there is a possibility,” says sleep expert Vladyslav Vyazovskiy of the University of Oxford at the BBC.
“For me, the question is not whether we can enter hibernation, but how to do it. How do the neurons in the hypothalamus ‘know’ when it is time to hibernate? Who tells them? That’s the real question,” he says.
But the research is only done in animals for now and there is still a long way to go before testing in humans is possible.
“More research is needed to determine whether this technique is also safe and suitable for humans,” Chen told Live Science.
READ ALSO: This is what happens to your brain during a near-death experience: from vivid memories to spiritual encounters
#Science #put #people #hibernation