Vestibular System Flashcards
What are the 3 pieces of the sense of balance?
1.) Activity in muscles and joints that send information to the brain to allow you to resist the pull of gravity
2.) Visual System
3.) Vestibular System
What is proprioception?
The sense of where your limbs are in space
What is kinesthesis?
The sense of where your limbs are moving in space
What creates the 8th cranial nerve?
Branches from the cochlea and the vestibular system
What can happen if you have inflammation in the inner ear?
Vertigo, dizziness
What are the 3 semicircular canals?
1.) Anterior
2.) Posterior
3.) Horizontal
What are the 3 linear directions a person can move in?
1.) Front and back
2.) Side to side
3.) Up and down
What are the 3 angular directions a person can move in?
1.) Pitch (like a somersault/front flip)
2.) Roll (like a cartwheel)
3.) Yaw (spinning)
What is the ampulla?
A widening at the end of the semicircular canal.
It detects head rotation
What is the cupula?
A gel structure inside the ampulla
It helps sense the position of your head and the orientation of your body in space
What is the role of endolymph in the semicircular canals?
The fluid gets in the ampulla and pushes the cupula in one direction or the other, depending on which way you’re moving
Where are stereocilia found?
Inside the cupula and connected to vestibular hair cells
What happens if you displace the cupula?
You put shearing force on the stereocilia, and the process opens up ion channels, which release neurotransmitter into the synapse, sending information about rotational dimensions outside of the VS into more central areas of the brain
What do structures in the VS respond to?
Acceleration but not constant velocity
What do the Utricle and Saccule respond to?
Acceleration but not constant velocity
