ABSTRACT
The large capacity of the vestibulo-ocular reflexes (VOR) to change response amplitude and temporal properties adaptively either to short or long-term alterations in the visual environment has been repeatedly demonstrated in a number of species. The recovery of horizontal VOR after inactivation of the lateral semicircular canals was frequency-specific. Selective inactivation of semicircular canals altered the three-dimensional spatiotemporal tuning of the VOR in a characteristic way. The spatial organization of the VOR was investigated by repositioning the animals relative to the axis of rotation and oscillating about different head axes. Similarly to the strongly frequency-specific recovery of horizontal VOR during yaw oscillations, a very short horizontal per- and postrotatory nystagmus was elicited by steps of constant velocity rotation several weeks after lateral canal plugging. The recovery of horizontal VOR, for example, is at least partly due to signals originating from the remaining intact vertical canals.
