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Effect of real and simulated weightlessness on the characteristics of the static otolith reflex

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Abstract

To determine the role of the support-proprioceptive factor in functioning of the vestibular system, in particular, the role of static torsional otolith-cervical-ocular reflex (OCOR), the latter was studied in 16 subjects after a seven-day “dry” horizontal immersion and in 14 cosmonauts after a prolonged exposure to weightlessness (for 126–195 days). OCOR was studied by the videooculography method during alternately tilting the head towards the right or left shoulder by an angle of 30° in the frontal plane before the flight and before immersion, as well as on days 1, 3, and 7 after the completion of the immersion experiment and on days 1 (2), 4 (5), and 8 (9) after the spaceflight. For the first time it was demonstrated that elimination of the support and minimizing the proprioceptive afferentation may lead to the absence or inversion of the static torsional OCOR, as well as to a positional nystagmus against the background of the inverted reflex. Comparison of OCOR in cosmonauts after prolonged exposure to weightlessness and in the subjects examined after immersion revealed similarity in this reaction. However, changes in OCOR after immersion were encountered only in 60% of the subjects, whereas after the spaceflight, in 90% of the cosmonauts examined. The post-flight changes in OCOR were more pronounced and long-lasting.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biomedical Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 123007, Russia

    L. N. Kornilova, I. A. Naumov & S. M. Makarova

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  1. L. N. Kornilova
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  2. I. A. Naumov
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  3. S. M. Makarova
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Original Russian Text © L.N. Kornilova, I.A. Naumov, S.M. Makarova, 2011, published in Fiziologiya Cheloveka, 2011, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 97–104.

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Kornilova, L.N., Naumov, I.A. & Makarova, S.M. Effect of real and simulated weightlessness on the characteristics of the static otolith reflex. Hum Physiol 37, 85–92 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0362119711010075

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