Balance Flashcards
equilibrium
1) sense of body orientation and motion
vestibular apparatus
1) provides information for equilibrium and for coordinating head movements with eye and posture
2) structures
- semicircular canals
- utricle
- saccule
circular motion
1) semicircular canals
- rotational or angular acceleration or deceleration of the head
2) three loops arranged in XYZ planes
linear motion
1) utricle and saccule
crista ampullaris
1) functional sensory unit of rotational motion
- house hair cells (kinocillium and stereocilia)
2) the hairs protrude into the endolymph
3) the hairs are embedded in cupula (gelatinous layer)
4) moving endolymph pushes against he cupula => cupula bow => hairs bend
cupula
1) cupula moves against the fluid, causing hair cells to bend
2) when stopped, the fluid continues to move due to inertia
- causes hair cells to bend agains
generating receptor potentials
1) endolymph moves => stereocilia deflects => tension on tip links => pull on mechanically gated ion channels
2) channels either open or close (hyper or depolarization)
otolith organs
1) utricle and saccule
- linear motion
- functional unit is macula
2) between the semicircular canals and cochlea
3) kinocilium and stereocilia of the receptor hair cells protrude into otolith membrane (gelatinous membrane)
4) otoliths
- calcium carbonate suspended in the gelatinous later
- makes otolith membrane heavier => more inertia
utricle and saccule detect
1) by displacement of hairs
2) utricle hairs displaced by changes in horizontal motion
3) saccular hairs displaced by changes in vertical motion
forward movement
1) otolith membrane (greater inertia) lags behind => hair cells bend to the rear
2) no acceleration but still moving
- the gelatinous layer moves at the same rate as the hair cells=> hairs no longer bend
3) sudden deceleration => otolith sheet continuous to move forward => hairs bend forward
input
1) information about the body’s position in space comes from three main sources and is fed into two major processing areas in the CNS
output
1) responses by the CNS provide fast reflexive control of the muscles serving the eyes, neck, limbs, and trunk