[Purkinje's cells in the vestibular and proprioceptive segments of rat's cerebellum following 14-day space flight].

Quantitative cytochemical and morphometric methods were used to investigate cytochrome oxidase activity and sizes of bodies and nuclei of Purkinje's cells in the medical nodulus and upper central lobule of the vermis obtained from rats sacrificed in 5-6 hours of landing after the 14-day SLS-2 mission of NASA space "shuttle" Columbia (STS-58). The reduced cytochrome oxidase activity was explained by suppression of the functional activity of Purkinje's cells in microgravity. Results of the investigations suggest weakening of the regulatory effect of the vermis Purkinje's cells on giant neurons of the dorsocaudal segment of Deiters nucleus. They also strengthen the earlier hypothesis that space flight decays the inhibitory effect of nodulus Purkinje's cells on the medial vestibular nucleus for the reason of change in the "velocity storage" in mammals during and after flight.