Phenomenology of spatial illusory reactions under conditions of weightlessness

Sensory interaction and sensory adaptation in short- and long-lasting space flights (SF) and the dynamics of stability of adaptive shifts were studied by the phenomenology of spontaneous and visually induced illusory reactions. It was shown that perceptive impairment developed during the initial adaptation to microgravity should be considered regular reactions of sensory systems under given environmental conditions rather than special features of the individuals examined. The classification of spontaneous illusory reactions (SIR) under conditions of microgravity and the results of investigation of the vertical vection (vection is a visual illusion evoked by the optokinetic stimulation) are presented. The following previously unknown phenomena were registered for the first time: inversion of the vertical vection illusion (VVI) evoked by vertical and sinusoidal optokinetic stimulation, impairment of perception of the body schema during VVI, change in the character of VVI, and development of VVI asymmetry. During long-lasting existence under conditions of weightlessness the anomalous perceptive reactions continued to be registered episodically (the period of adaptation was replaced by that of deadaptation). A hypothesis was suggested for the possible mechanisms of the phenomena found. [Translated from Fiziologiya Cheloveka, vol. 21, no. 4, p. 50-62, July-August, 1995]