There's a new study out saying astronaut brains don't fully adapt to microgravity. But what I actually want to know is whether the changes that do happen are permanent, and whether some people recover faster than others or if that's even been measured.
the vestibular piece is exactly what got me. I work in rehab and the way some patients adapt back to normal proprioception after immobilization is very individual. I started wondering if the same is true in space and basically could not find a satisfying answer.
genuinely never thought about the "does it come back" part. that's the more interesting question isn't it
I've been reading about vestibular adaptation for a while. The way the inner ear recalibrates in orbit is pretty well documented, but what happens on return has always seemed underdetermined to me. What I can't find a clear answer on is whether there's meaningful individual variation in recovery, or whether everyone roughly converges on the same timeline. Does pre-mission training predict anything about how fast someone adapts back? That seems like the kind of thing you could study, but I haven't seen it done well.