Areas of Research

Cognition in Spaceflight

Dr. Basner developed, together with his colleagues Dr. David F. Dinges and Dr. Ruben C. Gur and with collaborators from Pulsar Informatics Inc., the Cognition test battery for spaceflight. This development was funded by both NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI). Cognition consists of 10 brief, validated cognitive tests that cover a range of cognitive domains. The tests were specifically designed for the high-performing Astronaut population. Brain regions primarily recruited by the individual test have been established with fMRI. The Cognition battery is part of NASA’s Behavioral Health and Performance Standard Measures, a set of measures that is routinely performed by all astronauts on ISS missions and by research subjects in space analog environments. In 2018, Dr. Basner was awarded the International Space Station Innovation Award for Cognition by the American Astronautical Society. In 2016, the original paper describing Cognition received the Journal Publication Award for the Most Outstanding Space Medicine Article published in the Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance Journal by the Space Medicine Association. In 2025, Dr. Basner was the recipient of the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal. 

ISS & Extreme Environments

Dr. Basner performed several studies on the International Space Station and in space analog environments including NASA’s Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA), the Hawai’i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS), the Russian Mars500 simulated mission to Mars, and the Antarctic research stations Concordia, Neumayer III, and Halley. Dr. Basner was one of the 10 selected principal investigators of NASA’s TWINS study, in which Scott Kelly spent 340 days in space while his twin brother Mark Kelly, also a retired Astronaut, was investigated on Earth. In this interdisciplinary research project that spanned from molecular mechanisms to physiology and behavior, Dr. Basner was responsible for assessing cognitive performance in the twins. Dr. Basner’s project “Neurostructural and Cognitive Changes During Long Duration Low-Earth Orbit Missions: Cognition” was recently selected as one of 14 international projects to investigate the effects of long-duration spaceflight on 10 more astronauts. 

Dr. Basner was also one of 5 TRISH-funded investigators who participated in SpaceX’s historic all-commercial crew mission (Inspiration 4), where he investigated changes in cognitive performance and crew physiology in relation to the spacecraft environment. Dr. Basner is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and a member of the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA). 

Media

Podcasts on astronaut behavioral health research that feature Dr. Basner include the Exploration Medicine Podcast “Living in isolated, confined, and extreme environments for exploration-type space missions”; This Is Your Brain With Dr. Phil Stieg Podcast “The risks of long-term space travel”; and Quirks & Quarks podcast of CBC Radio Canada “Microgravity on a trip to Mars might leave astronauts emotionally impaired”.

Traffic Noise 

Between 1999 and 2008, Dr. Basner conducted several large scale laboratory and field studies on the effects of traffic noise on sleep at the German Aerospace Center. For this research, Dr. Basner was awarded the German Aerospace Center Research Award in 2007 and the Science Award of the German Academy for Aviation and Travel Medicine in 2010. Dr. Basner developed an ECG-based algorithm for the automatic identification of autonomic activations associated with cortical arousal that was used in several field studies to non-invasively assess the effects of aircraft noise on sleep. He is currently funded by FAA to obtain current exposure-response functions describing the effects of aircraft noise on sleep for the United States. Dr. Basner has been an advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) on the effects of traffic noise on sleep and health on a number of occasions.

He performed a systematic evidence review on the effects of noise on sleep for the recently published revision of WHO’s Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region. Dr. Basner is currently President of the International Commission of Biological Effects of Noise (ICBEN) and member of the Impacts and Science Group of the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). He also represents the University of Pennsylvania in FAA’s Aviation Sustainability Center (ASCENT). Dr. Basner wrote editorials for Deutsches Ärzteblatt (in 2016 and 2019) and for the Journal of the American Heart Association on articles on the effects of traffic noise on health. Dr. Basner served as an advisor on an NSF-funded project titled “Developing the Processes and Potential to Engage Historically Underrepresented Communities in Public Participation in STEM Research Through Authentic and Impactful Collaboration” (NOISE Project). 

Media

In 2018, Dr. Basner was invited to give a TEDMED talk on the health effects of noise. Podcasts on noise effects research that feature Dr. Basner include the United States Green Building Council Podcast “Built for Health: Acoustics and Sounds”;  99% Invisible Podcast “Sound and Health: Cities”; Futureproof Podcast by Jonathan McCrea “Futureproof Gold: Why Noise is Bad for You”; and This Is Your Brain with Dr. Phil Stieg Podcast “How noise affects our brains”. Dr. Basner is also featured on NPR's "the pulse" episode "Noise Annoys".   

Sleep Research

Dr. Basner participated in several studies on the effects of acute and chronic sleep loss on neurobehavioral functions performed at the University of Pennsylvania. Together with David F. Dinges, he developed both a short version and an adaptive version of the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT), identified the most sensitive outcome metrics of the PVT, developed new sensitive metrics, and showed that the PVT is indeed free of practice effects. Dr. Basner is also interested in how different work schedules affect sleep and performance. He participated in several large observational studies, intervention studies, and clinical trials investigating the effects of extended overnight shifts and protected sleep periods on sleep duration, sleepiness, and alertness of medical interns. In 2013 and 2014, he was a member of a Transportation Research Board of the National Academies committee studying FAA Air Traffic Controller staffing levels. Finally, Dr. Basner publishes frequently on the relationship between sleep time and waking activities using the publicly available American Time Use Survey (ATUS). He found a positive trend in sleep duration between 2003 and 2014 using ATUS data, which can likely be explained by a greater awareness of the importance of sufficient sleep in the population and by more online opportunities to shop, work, bank, and take classes from home. In the most recent ATUS analyses, Dr. Basner investigated the relationship between time spent exercising and sleeping and showed that these healthy behaviors are competing for time. Dr. Basner was part of an AASM panel that determined guiding principles for determining work shift duration and addressing the effects of work shift duration on performance, safety, and health.  An interview with Dr. Basner on “Sleep & Neurocognitive Performance” was featured in the journal Practical Neurology. Dr. Basner is member of the Sleep Research Society (SRS), he was Deputy Editor of the journal SLEEP, and he is currently Senior Associate Editor for the journal Sleep Health. 

Media

Podcasts on sleep research that feature Dr. Basner include Live Long and Master Aging Podcast “Improving sleep hygiene for better health” and Unmessable Podcast by Tanya Privé “How To Boost Your Performance at Work and in Life, According to Science”.