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Studies of the vestibulo-ocular reflex on STS 4, 5 and 6The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) may be altered by weightlessness. Since this reflex plays a large role in visual stabilization, it was important to document any changes caused by space flight. This is a report on findings on STS-4 through 6 and is part of a larger study of neurosensory adaptation done on STS-4 through 8. Voluntary horizontal head oscillations at 1/3 Hz with amplitude of 30 deg right and left of center were recorded by a potentiometer and compared to eye position recorded by electroculography under the following conditions: eyes open, head fixed, tracking horizontal targets switched 0, 15, and 30 degrees right and left (optokinetic reflex - OKR - and calibration); eyes open and fixed on static external target with oscillation, (vestibulo ocular reflex, eyes closed - VOR EC); eyes open and wearing opaque goggles with target fixed in imagination (vestibulo-ocular reflex, eyes shaded - VOR ES); and eyes open and fixed on a head synchronized target with head oscillation (VOR suppression). No significant changes were found in voluntary head oscillation frequency or amplitude in those with (n=5), and without (n=3), space motion sickness (SMS), with phase of flight or test condition. Variations in head oscillation were too small to have produced detectable changes in test results.
Document ID
19880010603
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Technical Memorandum (TM)
Authors
Thornton, William E.
(NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Houston, TX., United States)
Pool, Sam L.
(NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Houston, TX., United States)
Moore, Thomas P.
(Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council, New Delhi (India), United States)
Uri, John J.
(RCA Government Services Houston, Tex., United States)
Date Acquired
September 5, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1988
Subject Category
Aerospace Medicine
Report/Patent Number
NASA-TM-100461
NAS 1.15:100461
S-573
Report Number: NASA-TM-100461
Report Number: NAS 1.15:100461
Report Number: S-573
Accession Number
88N19987
Funding Number(s)
PROJECT: RTOP 073-36-00-00-72
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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