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Morphological changes in rat vestibular system following weightlessness

M D Ross1

  • 1Biocomputation Center, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035-1000.

Journal of Vestibular Research : Equilibrium & Orientation
|January 1, 1993
PubMed
Summary

Mammalian gravity receptors adapt to microgravity. Studies show significant increases in synapses and changes in their form in rat maculas after spaceflight, demonstrating synaptic plasticity.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Gravitational Biology
  • Cell Biology

Background:

  • Mammalian gravity receptors, or maculas, possess distinct cellular circuits for processing vestibular information.
  • Type I and Type II hair cells form parallel and distributed circuits, respectively, with Type II cells hypothesized to be more adaptable.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the synaptic plasticity of utricular hair cells in response to microgravity exposure.
  • To test the hypothesis that the distributed circuit (Type II cells) is more adaptable than the channeled circuit (Type I cells).

Main Methods:

  • Ultrastructural analysis of macular hair cells and ribbon synapses from rats flown in microgravity and ground controls.
  • Serial section electron microscopy was used to quantify synaptic structures.
Keywords:
NASA Center ARCNASA Discipline NeuroscienceNASA Experiment Number 178238 1/2

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Main Results:

  • A significant increase in synapse numbers was observed in both Type I (41%) and Type II (55%) hair cells of flight animals.
  • A shift towards the spherular form of ribbon synapse occurred in both cell types.
  • Synapse pairs nearly doubled, and synapse groups in Type II cells increased 12-fold in flight rats.

Conclusions:

  • Mature utricular hair cells exhibit synaptic plasticity, enabling adaptation to altered gravitational environments.
  • Findings support the hypothesis that the distributed circuit involving Type II hair cells is highly adaptable.