Context-specific adaptation and its significance for neurovestibular problems of space flight

Abstract

It has been demonstrated that various vestibular and oculomotor responses can be adapted in a context-specific manner: different adapted states are associated with different states of a prevailing context cue, and a change in the context state triggers a change in the response such that each adapted state is associated with a given context state. We review selected literature on context-specific adaptation, including our own recent results on adaptation of saccades, pursuit, and the linear and angular vestibulo-ocular reflexes (LVOR and AVOR), and suggest some ways in which context-specific adaptation might be useful as a countermeasure to the adverse neurovestibular effects of space flight.