Gravity affects the preferred vertical and horizontal in visual perception of orientation.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of gravity on the representation and storage of visual orientation information. On earth, measurements of response time and variability for a task of aligning remembered visual stimuli showed a distinct preference for horizontally and vertically oriented stimuli when the body and gravitational axes were aligned. This preference was markedly decreased or disappeared when the body axis was tilted with respect to gravity but was maintained for tests performed in microgravity. We conclude that subjects acquire and store visual orientation in a multi-modal reference frame that combines proprioceptive and gravitational information when both are available.
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006112:Gravitation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*