Section 3 Vestibular System Flashcards
Vestibular fxns:
stabilization of eye position, perc of body rotation and translation, visual and postural vertical perc
Disorders of the vestibular system:
Meniere’s disease, Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)
BPPV is more common as:
you age
What signal the static position of the head with respect to gravity and its linear acceleration?
Utricle and saccule
What signals rotation and angular acceleration of the head?
Semicircular canal
Names of the 3 loops of the semicircular canal:
ant, pos, and lateral
What regions of the ear contain hair cells?
Cochlea? (check)
The utricle detects:
linear accelerations and head-tilts in the horizontal plane.
The saccule detects:
linear accelerations and head-tilts in the vertical plane.
Where are the axons of the utricle located?
Trick Question. There are none
Explain the transmission of info from the hair cell in the utricle.
Synaptic vesicles in body of hair cell release glutamate on 8th nerve afferents which send info about these organs to the brain
How many 8th nerve afferents are connected to each hair cell?
1 in the images in slides
At which end of the hair cells are the hair bundles?
Apical end
What are the tips of the hair cells embedded in?
Otolithic membrane, gelatinous structure overlying the hair cells
Fxn of otoconia:
to add extra weight to the structure
What are found on the otolithic membranes in the utricle?
Otoconia (Ca carbonate crystals)
Endolymph has a high conc of what ion?
K+, positively charged
What are the hair bundles surrounded by?
endolymph
2 different ECF involved w hair cells:
Endolymph, high K+ and positively charged (top of the structure) and perilymph, high Na++ and low K+, surrounding the hair cell bodies
Effects of tilting head:
tilt membrane that is mechanically coupled to the bone that surrounds the structure
What causes distortion of the otolithic membrane?
weight of the otoconia when tilting head
Linear acceleration:
distortion of the hair cell with respect to body, epi moves in same direction as head bc they are mechanically connected, bending of the hair bundles
What causes the hair uncles to bend during acceleration?
the inertia of the heavy crystals that accelerate more slowly than the hair cell bodies
How many kinocilium per hair strucutre are there?
1
Kinocilium is aka:
true cilium
Where are kinocilium located?
all vestibular hair cells
How are the hair stereocilia arranged?
Same height L to R - polarized, short to tall in other direction, affects how each of the hair cells work
Fxn of step-like arrangement of stereocilia of the hair cell:
How moves of upper part of structure triggers electrical changes to go to the CNS (check)
About how many stereocillia are there?
60
What system is the kinocilium related to:
vestibular
How are the stereocilia arranged?
Step-like
How are adjacent stereocilia of the hair cell attached?
Tip links
Where do tip-links attach to the stereocilia?
locations of mecahno receptor channels
Fluid bathing the stereocilia:
endolymph, K+ is the predominant ion that will be flowing in (Ca as well, but mainly K)
What 2 ions can flow into the stereocilia?
Ca and K
What is the extracellular fluid of the inner ear?
endolymph
Disorders of the endolymph:
disruption of endolymph production or hair cells fxn
Disruption of endolymph production can lead to:
Vertigo, vomiting, hearing impairment
What can cause the disruption of endolymph production?
inflammation of the inner ear
Meniere’s disease:
disruption of the hair cell fxn, attacks w no warning, last hours