Kolev O I, Tibbling L
Department of Otoneurology, Institute of Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery, Sofia, Bulgaria.
J Vestib Res. 1992 Summer;2(2):153-7.
Nineteen healthy male volunteers were exposed to a 72-hour open-sea stay in a lifeboat in order to study whether randomized protracted stimulation of different parts of the vestibular system would cause a decrease of vestibular activity as assessed by unilateral calorization of the horizontal vestibular canal. The influence on the autonomic nervous system was investigated by calculating the heart rate by the R-R intervals at ECG at rest and at maximum speed of the nystagmus slow phase. Calorization and ECG investigations were performed immediately before and after the open-sea exposure. Seven healthy males who were not exposed to the open sea served as controls. They were investigated in the same manner as the test subjects, that is twice, 3 days apart. All test subjects experienced seasickness. After the sea stay, the caloric nystagmus response had decreased significantly more than in the controls. In 7 subjects with the most pronounced vestibular habituation, the resting heart rate decreased significantly after the sea exposure. Caloric stimulation of the labyrinths did not cause any specific change of the heart rate. It is concluded that prolonged open-sea exposure causes vestibular habituation to unilateral labyrinthine stimulation. Furthermore, there are some indications that the mechanism that is responsible for vestibular habituation to some extent influences the function of the autonomic nervous system, resulting in a decreased pulse rate.
19名健康男性志愿者在救生艇中进行了72小时的海上停留，以研究对前庭系统不同部位进行随机的长期刺激是否会导致前庭活动降低，这是通过水平半规管的单侧冷热试验来评估的。通过计算静息心电图和眼震慢相最大速度时的R-R间期来研究对自主神经系统的影响。在海上暴露前后立即进行冷热试验和心电图检查。7名未暴露于海上的健康男性作为对照。他们以与测试对象相同的方式接受调查，即相隔3天进行两次检查。所有测试对象都经历了晕船。海上停留后，冷热眼震反应的下降幅度明显大于对照组。在7名前庭习惯化最明显的受试者中，海上暴露后静息心率显著下降。内耳的冷热刺激并未引起心率的任何特定变化。得出的结论是，长时间的海上暴露会导致对单侧迷路刺激的前庭习惯化。此外，有一些迹象表明，负责前庭习惯化的机制在一定程度上会影响自主神经系统的功能，导致脉搏率下降。
