A review of the effects of space flight on the asymmetry of vertical optokinetic and vestibulo-ocular reflexes

Abstract

Prolonged microgravity during orbital flight is a unique way to modify the otolith inputs and to determine the extent of their contribution to the vertical vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) and optokinetic nystagmus (OKN). This paper reviews the data collected on 10 astronauts during several space missions and focuses on the changes in the up-down asymmetry. Both the OKN elicited by vertical visual stimulation and the active VOR elicited by voluntary pitch head movements showed an asymmetry before flight, with upward slow phase velocity higher than downward slow phase velocity. Early in-flight, this asymmetry was inverted, and a symmetry of both responses was later observed. An upward shift in the vertical mean eye position in both OKN and VOR suggests that these effects may be related to otolith-dependent changes in eye position which, in themselves, affect slow phase eye velocity.