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Adaptation of the Vestibular System to Microgravity

Nancy G. Daunton

10.1002/cphy.cp040133

Source: Supplement 14: Handbook of Physiology, Environmental Physiology

Originally published: 1996

Published online: January 2011

Full Article on Wiley Online Library



Abstract

The sections in this article are:

1 Overview of the Vestibular System
2 Adaptation in the Vestibular System
3 Functional Evidence of Adaptation to Microgravity
3.1 Control of Eye Movements
3.2 Control of Posture
3.3 Perception of Orientation and Motion
3.4 Space Motion Sickness
4 Physiological and Morphological Evidence of Adaptation
4.1 Peripheral Vestibular System
4.2 Central Nervous System
5 Summary and Conclusions
Figure 1. Figure 1.

Schematic representation of multisensory interactions in control of eye movements and posture, and perception of orientation and motion. These interactions provide the basis for sensory reweighting or substitution that underlies vestibular adaptation to altered gravity.

Adapted from Young et al. 116 with permission
Figure 2. Figure 2.

Representation of hypothetical time lines for stages of adaptation to altered gravity and read‐aptation to normal gravity. Readaptation to normal conditions is generally thought to occur more rapidly than adaptation to new conditions. Different rates of adaptation are found in different functional systems (for example, those involved with controlling gaze or posture, or with perceiving orientation). Rates are also affected by an individual's activity level in the new environment. In humans the initial phase of readaptation in some systems may be shortened to minutes by cognition.
Figure 3. Figure 3.

Gain of the horizontal vestibulo‐ocular reflex (HVOR) in two monkeys performing the gaze fixation task before and during spaceflight. Active eye and head movements were monitored as the animals acquired a visual target presented 40° to left or right of center. Note that the gain of the HVOR increased significantly during the first few days in space and then decreased during the last days of the flight. However, gain was still higher than preflight levels on the final flight day. Similar results have been found in cosmonauts performing the gaze fixation task in flight.

Adapted from Sirota et al. 93 with permission
Figure 4. Figure 4.

Gain of upward and downward vertical optokinetic reflexes (VOKR) obtained preflight, in flight, and postflight from one astronaut. Pattern velocity was 53°/s. Gain was calculated as the ratio of mean eye velocity to pattern velocity obtained 20–40 s after stimulus onset. Note the reversal of asymmetry (upward vs. downward) during the first 3 days in space and the return to normal asymmetry by the fourth in‐flight day.

Adapted from Clement et al. 13 with permission
Figure 5. Figure 5.

Normalized composite equilibrium data from 10 astronauts tested prior to flight and at various times after landing (wheels stop). Data were obtained using a dynamic posturography system. The composite score is a measure of anterior–posterior sway during tests involving perturbation of the posture platform under different conditions of visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive input. All astronauts showed some degree of postural instability postflight, with four individuals having clinically abnormal scores on the first postflight test. The degree of instability and rate of return to normal differed greatly among the astronauts. (The preflight scale is in days, not hours.)

From Paloski et al. 81 with permission
Figure 6. Figure 6.

Mean amplitude of otolith‐spinal reflex EMG elicited by a 1G stimulus in astronauts tested preflight, inflight, and postflight. Data are normalized with respect to the last preflight test, noted by star. Error bars show ± 1 SE of mean where results were available for all four subjects. Note the large reduction in amplitude inflight (ranging from ∼25% on the first day to ∼75% on the 7th day), and the rapid return to normal amplitude on the first postflight test.

Adapted from Watt et al. 105 with permission
Figure 7. Figure 7.

Schematic representation of time course of space motion sickness symptoms. Points on the line indicate the most common symptom level found in 57 Shuttle astronauts at specific times in flight, and vertical striping represents the range of symptoms. (Observe that the time scale is logarithmic.) The time course indicated for space motion sickness is similar to that found under other chronic sickness‐inducing conditions, for example, sea voyages or wearing vision‐reversing prisms.

From Thornton et al. 95 with permission


Figure 1.

Schematic representation of multisensory interactions in control of eye movements and posture, and perception of orientation and motion. These interactions provide the basis for sensory reweighting or substitution that underlies vestibular adaptation to altered gravity.

Adapted from Young et al. 116 with permission


Figure 2.

Representation of hypothetical time lines for stages of adaptation to altered gravity and read‐aptation to normal gravity. Readaptation to normal conditions is generally thought to occur more rapidly than adaptation to new conditions. Different rates of adaptation are found in different functional systems (for example, those involved with controlling gaze or posture, or with perceiving orientation). Rates are also affected by an individual's activity level in the new environment. In humans the initial phase of readaptation in some systems may be shortened to minutes by cognition.



Figure 3.

Gain of the horizontal vestibulo‐ocular reflex (HVOR) in two monkeys performing the gaze fixation task before and during spaceflight. Active eye and head movements were monitored as the animals acquired a visual target presented 40° to left or right of center. Note that the gain of the HVOR increased significantly during the first few days in space and then decreased during the last days of the flight. However, gain was still higher than preflight levels on the final flight day. Similar results have been found in cosmonauts performing the gaze fixation task in flight.

Adapted from Sirota et al. 93 with permission


Figure 4.

Gain of upward and downward vertical optokinetic reflexes (VOKR) obtained preflight, in flight, and postflight from one astronaut. Pattern velocity was 53°/s. Gain was calculated as the ratio of mean eye velocity to pattern velocity obtained 20–40 s after stimulus onset. Note the reversal of asymmetry (upward vs. downward) during the first 3 days in space and the return to normal asymmetry by the fourth in‐flight day.

Adapted from Clement et al. 13 with permission


Figure 5.

Normalized composite equilibrium data from 10 astronauts tested prior to flight and at various times after landing (wheels stop). Data were obtained using a dynamic posturography system. The composite score is a measure of anterior–posterior sway during tests involving perturbation of the posture platform under different conditions of visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive input. All astronauts showed some degree of postural instability postflight, with four individuals having clinically abnormal scores on the first postflight test. The degree of instability and rate of return to normal differed greatly among the astronauts. (The preflight scale is in days, not hours.)

From Paloski et al. 81 with permission


Figure 6.

Mean amplitude of otolith‐spinal reflex EMG elicited by a 1G stimulus in astronauts tested preflight, inflight, and postflight. Data are normalized with respect to the last preflight test, noted by star. Error bars show ± 1 SE of mean where results were available for all four subjects. Note the large reduction in amplitude inflight (ranging from ∼25% on the first day to ∼75% on the 7th day), and the rapid return to normal amplitude on the first postflight test.

Adapted from Watt et al. 105 with permission


Figure 7.

Schematic representation of time course of space motion sickness symptoms. Points on the line indicate the most common symptom level found in 57 Shuttle astronauts at specific times in flight, and vertical striping represents the range of symptoms. (Observe that the time scale is logarithmic.) The time course indicated for space motion sickness is similar to that found under other chronic sickness‐inducing conditions, for example, sea voyages or wearing vision‐reversing prisms.

From Thornton et al. 95 with permission
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Article Title: Adaptation of the Vestibular System to Microgravity
 

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Nancy G. Daunton. Adaptation of the Vestibular System to Microgravity. Compr Physiol 2011, Supplement 14: Handbook of Physiology, Environmental Physiology: 765-783. First published in print 1996. doi: 10.1002/cphy.cp040133