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Plasticity of the human otolith-ocular reflexThe eye movement response to earth vertical axis rotation in the dark, a semicircular canal stimulus, can be altered by prior exposure to combined visual-vestibular stimuli. Such plasticity of the vestibulo-ocular reflex has not been described for earth horizontal axis rotation, a dynamic otolith stimulus. Twenty normal human subjects underwent one of two types of adaptation paradigms designed either to attenuate or enhance the gain of the semicircular canal-ocular reflex prior to undergoing otolith-ocular reflex testing with horizontal axis rotation. The adaptation paradigm paired a 0.2 Hz sinusoidal rotation about a vertical axis with a 0.2 Hz optokinetic stripe pattern that was deliberately mismatched in peak velocity. Pre- and post-adaptation horizontal axis rotations were at 60 degrees/s in the dark and produced a modulation in the slow component velocity of nystagmus having a frequency of 0.17 Hz due to putative stimulation of the otolith organs. Results showed that the magnitude of this modulation component response was altered in a manner similar to the alteration in semicircular canal-ocular responses. These results suggest that physiologic alteration of the vestibulo-ocular reflex using deliberately mismatched visual and semicircular canal stimuli induces changes in both canal-ocular and otolith-ocular responses. We postulate, therefore, that central nervous system pathways responsible for controlling the gains of canal-ocular and otolith-ocular reflexes are shared.
Document ID
20050000821
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Wall, C. 3rd
(Harvard Medical School Boston, MA)
Smith, T. R.
Furman, J. M.
Date Acquired
August 22, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1992
Publication Information
Publication: Acta oto-laryngologica
Volume: 112
Issue: 3
ISSN: 0001-6489
Subject Category
Aerospace Medicine
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NS00921
CONTRACT_GRANT: NS21819
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Non-NASA Center
NASA Discipline Neuroscience

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