Mars-bound astronauts face chronic dementia risk from galactic cosmic ray exposure

Will astronauts traveling to Mars remember much of it? That's the question concerning scientists probing a phenomenon called "space brain." Scientists have found that exposure to highly energetic charged particles -- much like those found in the galactic cosmic rays that will bombard astronauts during extended spaceflights -- causes significant long-term brain damage in test rodents, resulting in cognitive impairments and dementia.