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Summary: Abstract The adaptive plasticity of the translational
vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) was investigated in rhesus
monkeys after 2-h exposure to either vertical or torsional
optic flow stimulation accompanied by lateral translation
stimuli (0.5 Hz). Because of the inherent ambiguity in
the otolith system for the detection of gravitoinertial ac-
celerations, we hypothesized that cross-axis adaptation
of the translational VOR during lateral motion would be
preferentially selective for a torsional optic flow stimu-
lus that would mimic a roll tilt movement. However, we
found that both vertical and torsional adaptation was
possible. Furthermore, there was no significant prefer-
ence for whether the torsional adaptation was in phase or
out of phase with the apparent tilt induced by the motion
stimulus. These results suggest that, at least at 0.5 Hz,
there seems to be no preferential, visually induced adap-
tive capacity of the otolith system for tilt/translation re-
interpretation during motion. Like the rotational VOR,
translational VOR appears to exhibit a general form of
cross-axis adaptation that operates for different direc-
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