Optokinetic training and vestribular habituation.
The present study deals with the interaction of the visual and vestibular system with special reference to habituation. The results indicate that vestibular responses are modified by repeated uni- and bidirectional optokinetic stimulation. This transfer mechanism is more evident in test subjects after wide angle (foveo-peripheral) than after narrow angle (foveal) optokinetic stimulation. The modification of vestibular responses by means of repetitive optokinetic stimuli is characterized by an enhancement on the one side and a decline of the responses on the other, depending entirely on the nature of the  optokinetic stimulus (uni- or bidirectional, foveal or foveo-peripheral). There is some evidence to suggest that these phenonomena are habituation transfer mechanisms. They seem to subserve the improvement of the gain of the vestibulo-ocular reflex. They help the vestibular system to improve the assessment of self-rotation within the environment and to impede the development of visual-vestibular conflicts.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005133:Eye Movements; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D006801:Humans; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D014163:Transfer, Psychology; D014722:Vestibule, Labyrinth / Q000502:physiology*