Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Rat head direction cell responses in zero-gravity parabolic flight.

Jeffrey S Taube1, Robert W Stackman, Jeffrey L Calton

  • 1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center of Cognitive Neuroscience, Dartmouth College, 6207 Moore Hall, Hanover, NH 03755, USA. jeffrey.taube@dartmouth.edu

Journal of Neurophysiology
|June 24, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Astronauts experience disorientation in zero-gravity (0-G). This study found that rat head direction (HD) cells maintain directional firing on the floor in 0-G but lose it on walls or ceilings, suggesting a loss of spatial orientation.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Hippocampal place cells map terrain geometry independently of behavior.

Science advances·2026
Same author

Psychosis: The Utility of Ketamine as a Pharmacological Model of Psychotic-like Symptoms in Rodents: A Review of Dosage Regimens.

Biology·2026
Same author

Projections from the supragenual nucleus to the lateral mammillary and dorsal tegmental nuclei.

Brain structure & function·2025
Same author

Lack of ADAP1/Centaurin-α1 Ameliorates Cognitive Impairment and Neuropathological Hallmarks in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease.

eNeuro·2025
Same author

Ibogalogs improve spatial and recognition memory in rodents through a mechanism involving 5-HT<sub>2A</sub> receptor activation-enhanced NMDA receptor activity in hippocampal pyramidal CA1 neurons.

Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie·2025
Same author

The head-direction signal is generated from two types of head direction cells in brainstem nuclei.

Nature communications·2025

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Space Biology
  • Vestibular System Research

Background:

  • Astronauts in zero-gravity (0-G) often experience visual reorientation illusions (VRIs), misperceiving spatial orientation.
  • Head direction (HD) cells in rats are known to encode directional information in a gravity-dependent manner.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how HD cell activity is affected by acute weightlessness.
  • To understand the neural basis of spatial orientation in 0-G.

Main Methods:

  • Recording of seven HD cells in the anterior dorsal thalamus of rats during parabolic flights providing 0-G.
  • Rats locomoted in a symmetrical chamber with accessible floor, ceiling, and walls.
  • HD cell discharge was analyzed during 0-G, hypergravity, and 1-G conditions.
Keywords:
NASA Discipline NeuroscienceNon-NASA Center

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • HD cells maintained direction-specific firing when rats were on the chamber floor in 0-G and during pull-out.
  • Direction-specific firing was often lost when rats moved on walls or ceilings in 0-G, accompanied by increased background firing.
  • Some cells showed firing patterns on the ceiling consistent with VRIs.

Conclusions:

  • Rats maintain a normal allocentric frame of reference on the floor in 0-G and 1-G.
  • Acute exposure to 0-G can disrupt directional heading when rats are not on a stable, gravitationally relevant surface.
  • Findings suggest that vestibular and somatosensory cues are crucial for maintaining HD cell function in altered gravity.