Book Description
Two attempts to telescope, in time, vestibular adaptation in a slow rotation room (SRR) were made to determine the easiest and quickest means of preventing the appearance of SRR sickness at a terminal velocity of 10 rpm. Three subjects in each experiment were exposed to unit increases in rotational velocity at which time they made several hundred experimenter-directed head movements. Prior to cessation of rotation standardized tasks were performed to determine the degree of transfer of adaptation acquired from the 'directed' movements. The results demonstrate that the process of homeostatic adaptation can be greatly speeded up through experimental control of head movements although a large number of 'limited' head motions must be made to ensure transfer of adaptation to general activities. Some idea was gained regarding the number and excursion of head movements required at each unit increase in rpm for adaptation and overadaptation at terminal velocity. (Author).