Effects of prolonged weightlessness on horizontal and vertical optokinetic nystagmus and optokinetic after-nystagmus in humans

Horizontal and vertical optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) and optokinetic after-nystagmus (OKAN) provided by a partial-field, binocular optokinetic stimulator were recorded in one astronaut before, during, and after a 25-day space flight. A ground-based study was performed on six control subjects. During the flight experiment, performed on flight days 5, 18, 19, and 21, the subject either had their feet attached to the deck or was free-floating. Vertical OKN gain only slightly increased in weightlessness compared with ground data, but the center of interest (CI) during vertical OKN, evaluated by the eye position in the saggital plane at the end of the fast phases relative to the straight-ahead direction, was found to be significantly changed during long-term exposure to weightlessness. The horizontal CI showed very little change in-flight, but the gain was increased. The time constant for the astronaut was small for vertical OKAN, but there was an increase in slow-phase velocity (SPV) by the end of the flight, which returned to normal postflight. These results partly confirm the data obtained during head-tilt studies on the ground and are in accordance with the hypothesis of a gravity-dependent control of vertical gaze direction during orientation reflexes.