Title: Vestibular Reflexes: Evaluation and Relevance in Microgravity
Authors: Wg Cdr (Dr) Himanshu Swami, Dr Chaithra, Dr Bharath
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v4i8.90
Maintaining postural equilibrium, sensing movement, and maintaining an awareness of the relative location of our body parts requires the precise integration of several of the body's sensory and response systems including visual, vestibular, somatosensory (touch, pressure, and stretch receptors in our skin, muscles, and joints), and auditory. Vestibular system plays important part in maintaining balance in microgravity environment. Understanding vestibular system and vestibular reflexes will help in training of space crew, detection of vestibular pathologies and prevention & treatment of space motion sickness. This review covers the vestibular reflex pathways, tests to check integrity of these pathways, effect of microgravity on vestibular system and role of vestibular system in space motion sickness Key words – vestibular reflexes, space motion sickness. 1. Martin NF. Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors for prevention of space motion sickness: an avenue of investigation. Aviat Space Environ Med. 1984 Dec;55(12):1148-50 2. Jacobs RJ. Visual resolution and contour interaction in the fovea and periphery. Vision Res. 1979;19(11):1187-95. 3. Cronly-Dillon JR, Leventhal AG. Eye Movements: Vision and Visual Dysfunction Series. Vol 8. Boca Raton, Fla: CRC Press; 1991:1-10. 4. Von Baumgarten RJ. General remarks on role of vestibular system in weightlessness. Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 1987;244(3):135-42. 5. Thornton, W E; Uri, J J; Moore, T; Pool, S. Studies of the horizontal vestibulo-ocular reflex in spaceflight. Archives of otolaryngology--head & neck surgery.1989-Aug; vol 115 (issue 8) : pp 943-9 6. Gigorova V. K, Kornilova L. N. Microgravity effect on the vestibulo-ocular reflex is dependent on otolith and vision contributions. Aviation, space, and environmental medicine. 1996, vol. 67 (1), pp. 947-954. 7. Ramat S, Zee DS, Minor LB. Translational vestibulo-ocular reflex evoked by a "head heave" stimulus. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2001 Oct;942:95-113. 8. A.H. Clarke, J. Grigull, R. Mueller and H. Scherer. The three-dimensional vestibulo-ocular reflex during prolonged microgravity. Experimental brain research .2000, vol. 134, pp. 322-334 9. Paloski, W.H., Black, F.O., Reschke, M.F., Calkins, D.S., Shupert, C. 1993. Vestibular ataxia following shuttle flights: effects of microgravity on otolith-mediated sensorimotor control of posture. American Journal of Otology 14:9-17 10. Wilson VJ, Boyle R, Fukushima K, Rose PK, Shinoda Y, Sugiuchi Y, Uchino Y. The vestibulocollic reflex. J Vestib Res. 1995 May-Jun;5(3):147-70. 11. Lackner JR, Dizio P. Space motion sickness. Exp Brain Res. 2006 Nov;175(3):377-99. 12. Crampton GH Motion and Space Sickness. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 1990 13. M. Heer, W. Paloski Space motion sickness: Incidence, etiology, and countermeasures. Autonomic Neurosc-ience, Volume 129, Issue 1, Pages 77-79Abstract
References