| Medical data Analyst |
: |
 |
| Chiharu Sekiguchi, M.D. (NASDA) |
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| Objective |
: |
Melatonin is a hormone secreted from brain, which has been reported
to regulate the body's biological clock. As the natural trigger for sleep,
melatonin is now available as a supplement for easing sleeping disturbance.
Owing to the very short cycle of brightness / darkness of only 90 minutes
in the low earth orbit, as well as to the hard work schedule during spaceflight,
the astronauts report that they experience sleep disturbance. We investigate
in this experiment the effect of melatonin administration on the sleep
of astronauts during spaceflight. |
| Experiment outline |
: |
Melatonin is administered to the astronauts before, during, and after
spaceflight. The effect of melatonin on sleep efficiency and daytime alertness
is assessed through the analyses of electroencephalogram during sleep and
of crew performance during mission together with the measurement of urine
melatonin excretion.
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| Significant implications |
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The results of this study are expected to understand better sleep mechanisms
in spaceflight and possibly to develop a new treatment for sleep disturbance
associated with spaceflight. |
| Experimental unit |
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Sleep experimental unit (SLEEP-2) |
